Arthur Fery exits Wimbledon in a position he never expected himself to be in when he started the draw two weeks ago.
Ranked 114th in the world, the 23-year-old gained entry into the tournament with the use of a wild card. Only twice had he won a main draw match at the Grand Slam level before Wimbledon started. Fery went on to exceed expectations with a stunning run featuring two five-set wins in which he prevailed in a decisive tiebreaker, as well as a victory over a former semi-finalist and top 10 player on Centre Court.
Out of nowhere, the Brit moved into the semi-finals to become only the second man to do so as a wild card after Goran Ivanisevic, who took the title in 2001. Fery’s extraordinary run was ended on Friday by Alexander Zverev, who recently captured his maiden major title at the French Open. It was a closely contested clash early on before the German second seed surged to victory.
“It was definitely a step up,” Fery reflected on his loss to Zverev.
“We know how well he can play. He was hitting his forehand really well. Really going big.
“I felt like he was hitting it really big. Didn’t seem to affect him when he missed. Maybe it would have been a bit different if I had applied more pressure on him at really important moments. Maybe the forehand would have made a few more errors. But he played really well on that side.”
Fery now finds himself in uncharted territory. His Wimbledon run has elevated him to the limelight and there is now a surge of media interest in him. He exits SW19 with £900,000 in prize money and will rise to 36th in the world rankings.
Until now, Fery had never been in the top 100. He will now be able to play in top tournaments around the world for months to come, which brings plenty of challenges along the way. He has only played in the main draw of an event categorised as an ATP 250 or above five times in his career.
“It’s going to change things, for sure,” he admits. “It’s going to be interesting to see how I deal with that change and everything that brings in terms of expectations from myself, from the public and from everyone.
“I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to be a challenge to deal with all of that, but I’m conscious of it already. That’s the first step.”
As for dealing with his rapid transition to the main stage of tennis, Fery hopes to learn from others who have done the same. One of those is Valentin Vacherot, who won the Shanghai Masters last October as an underdog and is now 20th in the world.
“Guys like Vacherot. He’s done an incredible job. He went from 200 to winning a Masters. Suddenly, it almost seemed like his base level switched overnight. That seems like his everyday level,” he said.
“Guys like that, I try to take from what they’ve done and do the same.”
It is still undecided if Fery will play at the Montreal Masters as he plans a brief rest from the Tour to recover. Although there is more certainty about his participation in events in Cincinnati, Winston-Salem and the US Open.
“ I don’t know if I can put a number on my level, but I feel definitely comfortable playing slam main draws and more,” he concluded.
