LONDON (AP) 鈥� Arthur Fery has some adjustments to make following his star turn at . Starting with his vacation planning.
clearly didn’t see a semifinal run coming 鈥� did anyone? 鈥� because the British wild card expected to be in Greece this past week rather than on Centre Court earning standing ovations.
鈥淚 was meant to be coming back from holiday today,鈥� the smiling Fery said after losing to Alexander Zverev 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 on Friday.
Fery became the talk of the town 鈥� his town, actually, since 鈥� as he progressed into the second week.
He met before walking out onto Centre Court and beating Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals, becoming the first wild card in 25 years to reach the men鈥檚 singles semifinals at the All England Club.
The 鈥淔erytale鈥� got a reality check, though, against the big-serving Zverev, the new French Open champion.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 play a good tiebreak,鈥� said Fery, who saw a 139 mph (224 kph) serve from the German on the first point before committing a double fault and an unforced error to see the tiebreaker slip away.
鈥淗e was always putting constant pressure. I didn鈥檛 get much rhythm, just not many rallies,鈥� Fery added. 鈥淛ust balls coming back a little bit faster than the other days and what I鈥檓 used to. Not as sharp with my footwork and mentally. Against a player like that, it adds up pretty quick.鈥�
Zverev, who will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in Sunday’s final, told the Centre Court crowd that Fery is just getting started.
鈥淗is game is very, very good. I think he has a lot of things in his game that he can still improve, which is a positive thing, because he just made semifinals of Wimbledon for the first time,鈥� Zverev said. 鈥淚f you know that you鈥檙e just starting and you鈥檙e making semifinals of Slams, that鈥檚 positive.”
Where does Fery go from here?
Fery entered the grass-court tournament ranked No. 114. Thanks to his deep run, he’ll break into the top 50 for the first time, moving up to No. 36 when the latest rankings are announced Monday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to change things, for sure. I鈥檓 going to be able to play tour events at least for a full year, hopefully for more,鈥� said Fery, who turns 24 on Sunday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a challenge to deal with all of that, but I鈥檓 conscious of it already and that鈥檚 the first step.鈥�
Fery hopes to recharge a bit before the hard-court season and his first U.S. Open main draw.
On the potential for a rearranged Greece trip he said, 鈥淲e鈥檒l see if that鈥檚 still in the cards.鈥�
Fery was then asked if his friends had gone to Greece without him.
鈥淥ne of my friends went ahead of time hoping I would lose,鈥� he said as reporters chuckled, 鈥渟o I could join him. No, he came back two days later and was supporting me.鈥�
Well, he can certainly afford to make new plans. Fery earned 900,000 pounds ($1.2 million) in prize money by reaching the Wimbledon semifinals. That’s well over his pre-Wimbledon career earnings of $883,618.
___
AP tennis:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
