LONDON (AP) — In Arthur Fery’s boyhood neighborhood, they could probably hear the cheers from a raucous Court 18.
Fery grew up just five minutes from Wimbledon.
On Saturday, the British wild card extended his improbable run into the fourth round at the All England Club with a 2-6, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) victory over Zizou Bergs of Belgium.
Wimbledon itself calls it a “ Ferytale ” — after all, Fery did play in front of Princess Kate earlier in the week on the same court.
The 23-year-old Fery, who is ranked No. 114, has never been this far before at a Grand Slam tournament, and he’s the only British player remaining in either men’s or women’s singles.
“A lot of first times today for me. Just so proud of how I handled everything. First five-setter (win), longest match that I’ve ever played, first time breaking into the top 100, first second week in a slam, all at home, five minutes from where I grew up,” Fery said. “It’s a great story for me.”
For Britain, too. Especially after the country’s main hopes Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu both withdrew with injuries before the tournament started, and the 11 British players who played singles on the opening day Monday all lost.
Fery trailed 4-1 in both the fourth set and the decider but fought back, buoyed by the home crowd in a match that lasted 4 hours, 39 minutes. He was showered with shouts of “C’mon Arthur!”
“It’s good to have a bit of banter in the crowd,” he said. “It’s good to see people having fun watching tennis. Coming to Wimbledon, it’s great.”
On the second match point in the 10-point fifth-set tiebreaker, Bergs returned into the net and Fery dropped to the grass on his back and spread his arms wide. On his feet moments later, he thrust both arms in celebration with the crowd.
“It’s unbelievable to have support. It definitely helps me,” he said. “Clearly at the end of the fifth, the crowd played a huge part in that. I was really, really grateful to have them behind me.”
Fery is just the second British wild card in the Open era to reach the men’s round of 16 at a major — after Andrew Foster reached the same point in 1993, according to the men’s professional tour.
Fery played at Stanford
The French-born Fery played collegiately at Stanford and was an All-American in 2022 and 2023.
Earlier this week, he credited his Stanford experience as “a great mix between academics and a super-strong tennis program, as well.”
“I did three years there. I think it helped me mature, gave me a bit of time without too much pressure. Just develop personally more than tennis-wise,” said Fery, whose mother played in the 1991 French Open women’s doubles draw.
Fery will next face either Grigor Dimitrov or Matteo Berrettini.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Ken Maguire, The Associated Press
