Arabic version: فيري يبلغ نصف نهائي الملعب المركزي لمواجهة ألكسندر زفيريف
Arthur Fery, the 23-year-old wildcard and world number 114, will return to Centre Court on Friday at 13:30 BST to face second seed Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon semi-final.
According to BBC News, Fery first stepped on to a court aged four at the Westside Tennis Club, a little over a mile from the All England Club, and grew up just a short walk from Centre Court. Born in Sevres, just outside Paris, his family moved to London before his first birthday.
He comes from sporting parents: his mother, Olivia, played doubles at the 1991 French Open and competed in the Fed Cup, and his father, Loic, is a financier who has owned French Ligue 1 football club Lorient. Fery has been described by early coach Alison Taylor as “incredibly athletic and gifted,” with exceptional footwork, balance and touch that favoured drop shots and net play.
Coaches Craig Veal and Benoit Foucher decided Fery would develop more by playing against adults in the UK rather than travelling internationally as a junior. “[We decided to] let him develop his game and his passion for it, rather than putting a load of pressure on him to get an international ranking,” Veal told the i Paper. When he later competed internationally he won World Tennis Junior singles and doubles titles and reached 12 in the world junior rankings; his Slams record included semi-finals in Australian Open and Wimbledon doubles.
At 18 he enrolled at Stanford University on a tennis scholarship, studying for a degree in science, technology and society while improving his game. Brandon Coupe, who coached him at Stanford, said: “The kid has got ice in his veins. He is so calm under pressure.” Fery also became the first Stanford player to be ranked singles number one in the US collegiate system since Bob Bryan.
Fery’s progress has not been without setbacks. He has struggled with bone bruising in his arm that has reoccurred, most recently after he reached the second round at this year’s Australian Open. He pledged to reinvest his £115,000 Melbourne winnings into his career, and has brought in a full-time physio and a biomechanics expert to change his serve. Coach Jeroen Benard said: “The serve is helping cause less force through the bones and it’s clearly working because he is not in pain anymore. We have only been together a year but it has been a long journey already because of the injury.” Fery is now bidding to become only the second wildcard to reach the Wimbledon men’s final.
