Arthur Fery shares surprising backup plan for his career even after making it to the Wimbledon semi-finals
Jannik Sinner kept his Wimbledon title on Sunday by beating Alexander Zverev in the final, but Arthur Fery’s amazing journey will be remembered for a long time.
Fery came into Wimbledon as a wildcard, ranked No.114 in the world, with only two Grand Slam match wins in his career. But the 24-year-old made history at SW19, becoming just the fifth British man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals since the Open era began in 1968.
His fairy-tale run started with a tough win over Damir Dzumhur, then continued with hard-fought victories against Otto Virtanen, Zizou Bergs, and Grigor Dimitrov. This set up a quarter-final match against Flavio Cobolli.
In an incredible performance, Fery beat the world No.9 in straight sets to reach the semi-finals and face Zverev. Although Zverev was stronger in the end, Fery, now Britain’s top-ranked player, earned a huge £900,000 from Wimbledon, pushing his career earnings past £1 million.
He also jumped 78 spots to 36th in the world rankings. Even though he’s only the second wildcard to reach a Wimbledon semi-final since Goran Ivanisevic did it in 2001, Fery is staying grounded.
He’s also focused on his education and has been studying for a degree in Science, Technology and Society at Stanford University in California. “I haven’t graduated yet, but I’m almost there,” Fery told talkSPORT. “Three out of four years done, I can finish it whenever I’m back in California. I wanted a good school in America for strong academics and a backup plan in case tennis didn’t work out.”
Having that backup plan shows Fery’s down-to-earth attitude, even though he comes from a wealthy family—his dad, Loic, once owned the Ligue 1 club Lorient. The 52-year-old is said to be worth around £275 million after a successful career in asset management and nearly buying Leeds United.
Making it to the Wimbledon semi-finals could be the start of something big for Fery, maybe even following in the footsteps of Emma Raducanu, who rose to fame by winning the 2021 US Open at just 18 and now is Britain’s top women’s singles player.
Fery is ready for the spotlight, and former British No.1 Greg Rusedski believes he has the talent to break into the ATP top 20. “His movement is as fast as anyone’s on the tour; his returns are unbelievable,” Rusedski said on BBC Radio Five Live after Fery’s match with Zverev.
“This is the moment his career really starts. As Sascha Zverev said, we’ll be seeing this guy for a long time! If he stays healthy, stays committed, and keeps that mindset, he’ll be a top 20 player. Richard Krajicek even thinks he can reach the top 10 because of his great attitude and work ethic. It’s an exciting time to have a new British No.1 at world No.36 who’s really fun to watch.”
The next challenge for Fery is to keep playing at this level in future tournaments. If he can do that, he might soon be knocking on the door of tennis’s elite.