For British wildcard Arthur Fery, the dream run at this year’s Wimbledon has come to a close, but the 24-year-old (who celebrates his birthday in just two days) leaves the All England Club with his head held high, a massive career breakthrough, and no regrets about skipping a Greek vacation with friends to chase glory on home soil.
Coming into the Championships ranked world No. 114, with never a Grand Slam third-round appearance to his name, Fery defied every pre-tournament prediction to march all the way to the men’s singles semi-finals, becoming the first men’s wildcard to reach this stage of Wimbledon since legendary champion Goran Ivanisevic’s iconic title run in 2001. His run captivated the British crowd after a brutal opening week that saw 15 of his fellow British players crash out in the first round, leaving Fery to carry the home nation’s singles hopes far further than any pundit had dared to imagine.
Fery’s path to the semi-final was nothing short of dramatic. The French-born Brit, who grew up just a short walk from the Wimbledon grounds, clawed back from a set down to win his first three matches, stunned former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov in a marathon five-set thriller on his Centre Court debut, and blew past French Open runner-up and ninth seed Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals to cement his place in tournament history. His relentless never-say-die attitude and unshakable self-belief won over fans across the grounds, from Centre Court to the crowds packed on Henman Hill.
Looking back on the choice that changed his career trajectory, Fery laughed off the near-miss of his planned holiday: “I was meant to be going to Greece with some friends. One of my friends went ahead early, hoping I would lose so I could join him. He ended up coming back two days later to cheer me on. I’m so glad I stuck with this tournament and kept fighting.” It would have been easy to fold in his third-round clash against Zizou Bergs, when Bergs claimed two breaks in the fourth set, but Fery refused to let the moment slip. “I just kept fighting, came back to the court every time and gave my best. I was mentally locked in the whole way,” he said.
That mental grit ran out just one step short of the final on Friday, as second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany – the recently-crowned French Open champion – proved too strong in a straight-sets 7-6(7-0), 6-2, 6-4 win. Though Fery matched Zverev stroke for stroke through the opening set, the German shifted into another gear in the tie-break, reeling off seven consecutive points to take the set without dropping a single point. From there, Zverev never looked back, dominating his service game through the final two sets to secure his place in his first ever Wimbledon final.
After the final point, the 14,979 fans packed into Centre Court rose as one for a standing ovation for Fery, who shared a warm post-match embrace with Zverev at the net. Fery admitted after the match that the run had caught up with him, and that he lacked his usual sharp energy against a top-tier opponent. “It might have been just a step too far. The opponent was a step up again,” he acknowledged. “I lacked a bit of that fight I had through the rest of the tournament today.”
Even in defeat, Fery leaves Wimbledon with a career-changing haul. On Monday, he will be crowned the new British No. 1 and jump to world No. 36 in the ATP rankings – an astronomical rise for a player who had never cracked the top 100 before the tournament. He also takes home £900,000 in prize money, a sum £240,000 larger than his entire career earnings before this Championships. The new ranking guarantees him direct entry into all future Grand Slams for the foreseeable future, a massive boost for his young career.
Speaking about the changes ahead, Fery said: “It’s going to change things, for sure. It will be interesting to see how I handle this new chapter, and the new expectations from myself and the public.”
For Zverev, the win marks a historic milestone of his own. The 29-year-old, who had never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon in his career before this year, will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final, and will rise to world No. 2 in the rankings after the tournament, overtaking Carlos Alcaraz. Fresh off claiming his first ever Grand Slam title at the French Open last month, Zverev will now chase a second major trophy at SW19.
Heaping praise on his young opponent after the match, Zverev said: “I have to give all the credit to Arthur. He’s an unbelievable player, and this is just the beginning of his career. I think he will be a staple on our tour for the next 15-plus years.” Zverev added of his own breakthrough: “This Grand Slam has always been the one that I struggled with the most, and all of a sudden I am in the final, so I am incredibly happy.”