Arthur Fery is going against doctors’ advice at Wimbledon after a secret surgery.
Arthur Fery has had a small medical procedure right in the middle of his amazing Wimbledon journey, and he’s hopeful it will help him go all the way at SW19.
The British player has made it to the semi-finals of this historic tournament after an incredible run of wins that have made him an overnight millionaire.
Fery, who got into the tournament as a wildcard and was ranked 114th in the world before it started, beat No. 9 seed Flavio Cobolli in straight sets in the quarter-finals on Centre Court.
He’s only the fifth British man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals since 1968, and now he faces second seed Alexander Zverev in the last four.
Before this huge match in his young career, the 23-year-old had a procedure to stop the nosebleeds he’d been struggling with.
During his win against Zizou Bergs, Fery needed medical help three times because of nosebleeds, which even paused the match.
Afterwards, he felt fine and planned to talk to doctors about the problem after the tournament, but he decided to go ahead and have his nose cauterised, a quick treatment that stops the bleeding by burning the blood vessels.
Talking about the procedure, Fery said, “I had a little procedure four days ago here. That seemed to help. Just getting the blood vessels cauterised in the nose. It was a small thing, nothing major, and it didn’t hurt. I also tried not to wipe my nose with a towel because I think that was making it worse. It’s just a mix of things and a bit of luck too.”
Normally, doctors suggest taking it easy after nose cauterisation to avoid raising blood pressure — which means resting and avoiding hard exercise for at least two weeks.
But Fery has done the opposite by jumping right back into tough matches, even in hot weather.
Now, he’s getting ready to face the French Open champion in what could be a long battle. Another big win would earn him £1.8 million, and winning the whole tournament would bring him £3.8 million.
The final would happen on his 24th birthday, making it a very special gift if he makes it that far.
His next opponent is a Grand Slam champ who’s much taller than him—6ft 6in—but with the crowd cheering him on at Wimbledon, Fery feels confident about playing the biggest match of his career.
“Playing against big servers is something I’ve really worked on. I’m okay with getting aced sometimes because it puts more pressure on my service games,” he said before the match with Zverev. “I’m a great returner, and I just try to keep the pressure on that way.”
He hopes to follow in the footsteps of Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001 after also coming in as a wildcard.