Arthur Fery will take inspiration from Jack Draper as he promises to stay humble following his leap from anonymity to British No 1.
After his main press conference, a few of us caught up with the breakout star of Wimbledon 2026 in a corner of the All England Club to reflect on a transformational fortnight.
His run to the semi-finals – ended in decisive fashion by Alexander Zverev on Friday – has catapulted him from 114th to 36th in the world and sent his career prize money from £660,000 to £1.5million.
Asked if he would be splurging on a new set of wheels, Fery replied: ‘I don’t need a car, I’ve already got a car, it’s a Mini Cooper and I like it a lot.
‘It’s funny,’ he added. ‘Jack Draper’s obviously much more successful than me and he still drives a Volkswagen Polo. So I’ll take some inspiration from that and stay humble.’
Almost as soon as Fery’s chipped forehand sailed long on match point against Zverev, attention turned to the question: what next?
Arthur Fery has catapulted from 114th to 36th in the world after Wimbledon semi-final run
In the most immediate sense, Fery will revive plans for a holiday which was kiboshed by his run here.
‘I was meant to be coming back from holiday today,’ he said. ‘Was meant to be going to Greece with some friends. One of my friends went ahead of time – hoping I would lose so I could join him! – he came back two days later and was supporting me.’
As tempting as it must be to dive immediately into the glamorous tournaments for which his new ranking qualifies him, Fery is wise to take a breath. First, having hoped to spend his 24th birthday today playing in the Wimbledon final, he will watch it instead. And then: ‘I’ll try to disconnect from tennis the next few weeks, try to reset.
‘It’s a bit of a weight off my shoulders that the tournament’s finished, it’ll be nice to just take it easy for a few days.’
He will return, making his Masters-level debut, either in Montreal or Cincinnati. In assessing how he will fare, there is a cautionary note and two big reasons for optimism.
To start with the negative: he has presented a unique challenge to his opponents this fortnight for which they appeared unprepared. Now he is known, adjustments will be made: Fery should expect to face a lot of balls spinning up around his ears over the North American swing.
The positives are his mind and his body. Fery looks to have an exceptionally strong temperament and for a sport played as much between the ears as between the lines that is a valuable commodity. As Fery said, when asked what he had learned about himself this fortnight: ‘What I was most happy about was my mental capacity to mentally lock in at tough moments.’
Then there is the fact he came through 18 and three-quarter hours of tennis and looked fresh as a daisy at the end of it. ‘(My body) hasn’t been better in the past three years,’ he said. ‘I’ve played so many matches here, no painkillers, no pain.
‘I’ve made sacrifices the past year in terms of diet, recovery, lifestyle. It’s all paying off.’
