Arthur Fery’s brilliant run to the quarter-finals has taken the whole of Wimbledon by surprise – except his potential opponent in the last four.
The British wild card made it back-to-back five-set wins by again coming from behind to defeat former world number three Grigor Dimitrov in one of the most impressive Centre Court debuts of recent years.
Fery will head back to Wimbledon’s main stage on Wednesday to take on ninth seed Flavio Cobolli, with Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev or Jiri Lehecka awaiting the winner in the last four.
While Fery was an unknown quantity to many, American sixth seed Fritz has been waiting for him to make a big breakthrough ever since they practised together in London at the end of 2024.
“I was playing well,” said Fritz. “I made finals of (the ATP Tour Finals in) Turin the next week. I felt pretty good about my game. He was beating me every day. I was like, ‘Yeah, this guy’s really good. This guy can play’.
“He had a good forehand for his size. Unbelievable serve. We were playing sets, baseline games. He was cooking me pretty consistently for the week. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s winning.”
Fery’s on-court talent is evident but the mental strength and inner confidence he has shown to handle the whole experience with aplomb has been the first thing tennis insiders have remarked upon.
“It’s always something you try to pride yourself upon, to be mentally tough,” said the 23-year-old.
“If you’re not necessarily having the right attitude and you lose a match, then you feel a bit ashamed, or feel like you could have done better. It’s always a work in progress. I think no one’s perfect every single match.
“But, especially these two weeks, it’s come out multiple times now. I’m really proud of my behaviour on court, not complaining or not having any times of anger, but more how I’m fighting back and staying in matches.”
Fery was twice a break down in the fourth set against Dimitrov before coming through a deciding-set tie-break – just as he had in the previous round against Zizou Bergs, when his position was even more precarious.
Former British number one Greg Rusedski said of the Wimbledon resident’s run: “It is unexpected, but what I like is his swagger, his mental fortitude, his body language, the way he never gives up. Amazing resilience, amazing belief.
“If he doubted himself, we wouldn’t be talking about him right now. And that’s the mindset that (Jannik) Sinner, (Novak) Djokovic, all the great champions have.
“I like the way he controls the court. There’s two games in tennis. There’s the playing, and then there’s the game in between the points that you play and at changeovers, and he does that about as well as anybody.”
Fery is listed at a generous 5ft 9in, making him one of the shortest men on tour, but Rusedski highlighted his speed around the court as a key weapon.
“He’s rapid,” said the former US Open finalist. “He’s as fast as anybody on the tour. He takes it early, returns are brilliant, backhand’s money.
“Forehand’s his slightly weaker wing, but still, it’s a great side. His transition game is great. The one area that’s slightly attackable, which he upped against Dimitrov, is the second serve. He was a little bit more brave.”
Rusedski expects a feelgood week in English sport to continue, adding: “We’re doing well in the football, we’re doing well in the tennis now. We all want to see England in the semis of the World Cup, we want to see Fery in the semis. I think we’ll get both our wishes.”
While Fery is in new territory, he has recent memories of beating Cobolli in the opening round of the Australian Open in January.
Admittedly, the Italian was suffering from a stomach bug and far from his best, while Cobolli has since reached the French Open final and broken into the top 10.
“I’m expecting it to be very, very difficult and different to Australia,” said Fery. “Completely different conditions. I’m sure he’s going to be at 100 per cent of his capacities here, which maybe he wasn’t quite in Australia.
“I played really well in Australia. Felt like I dominated the match. So we’ll use that experience for Wednesday.”
