For viewers at home this fortnight, it must appear as though Arthur Fery has dropped from the clear blue sky.
Barely known outside British tennis circles, the 23-year-old had only two Tour-level wins in his life before the grass season began – a total he has more than quadrupled in less than a month. In beating Grigor Dimitrov on his Centre Court debut on Monday, he became the first wildcard in over a decade to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Sometimes, in tennis, form, fitness, opportunity and luck combine to present a life-changing opportunity – then you have to be good enough to reach out and grasp it.
Fery’s leap from outside the top 150 to – at a minimum – 63rd in the world may have happened in the blink of an eye but he has been preparing for this all his life.
An upbringing as the son of high-achieving parents, an early life playing every sport under the sun, a brief addiction to cliff diving and a refusal to be defined by his stature – this is the story of how a French kid became King Arthur of Wimbledon.
Arthur Fery is the new king of Wimbledon for the British public after reaching the quarter-finals
Fery was born in Sevres, a commune on the outskirts of Paris, to parents Loic and Olivia. Loic was a financial trader, cutting his teeth in Hong Kong during the Asian financial crisis in the late ‘90s. In 2007 he founded hedge fund Chenevari, which now manages over $6billion in assets, and two years later bought Ligue 1 football club Lorient. In January, he sold the club to American Bill Foley – who also owns Bournemouth in the Premier League – but stayed on as president.
As for Olivia, she had a brief career as a tennis player, under her maiden name of Gravereaux, playing once in the women’s doubles at the French Open. While in Hong Kong with Loic she won the national championship.
Loic and Olivia moved to London and the Férys became the Ferys. They and their three children – two boys and a girl – settled in Wimbledon where sport-mad Arthur began tennis lessons with Alison Taylor at Westside tennis club.
‘He was incredibly athletic,’ Taylor, who coached Fery from age four to 12, tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘He had the best footwork, without even working on it.’
Taylor has known the Fery family for 20 years. She and Olivia are both members of the All England Club and regularly practice together – and Taylor had a very special view of the win over Dimitrov on Monday.
‘I was in the Royal Box,’ she says. ‘I got a big hug from Arthur as he came off court so that was really special.’
Olivia herself was in the general members area – keeping her head ducked below the limelight as she has all fortnight. ‘She was sitting quietly, surrounded by friends,’ says Taylor. ‘She wants to just stay focused and calm.’
If ever there was a case of like mother like son, that’s it right there. Fery has been a narrowed blade of calm and focus as he cuts a swathe through this draw. ‘He’s had that all his life,’ says Taylor.
The fun-loving 23-year-old, who was born in France, has captured the hearts of the nation
He is the son of successful businessman Loic Fery (pictured) and former tennis star Olivia
A few of us British reporters nabbed Fery after his win and asked how his upbringing as the child of such high-achieving parents had informed his career.
‘I’m really lucky in that regard,’ he says. ‘I had two parents who are highly driven, very successful but they’ve always taught me to be humble, stay grounded and work really hard. I’m really grateful for that.’
Taylor says: ‘He always had a good attitude, he never got angry. I attribute that to his upbringing. His parents were pretty hard on him not banging his racket (on the court).
‘When I coached him in a group, he was always so welcoming to other children, even if they weren’t as strong as he was. He was always just such a nice boy.’
If Fery’s rise has happened in a rush this fortnight, that is the opposite of the general pattern of his development.
‘It’s just steady, easy progress, and no hype about him at all,’ says Taylor. ‘There was always criticism from the LTA that he didn’t play enough hours and didn’t complete enough.
‘His parents just allowed things to develop. They weren’t pushing, it was really coming from Arthur. He was the one who wanted to play.
‘Everybody would say he needs to be doing this or that but his mum was very confident in her approach to his tennis: he did strength and conditioning, he played lots of other sports. He went to quite an academic school in King’s College and then he went off to Stanford.’
There he was under the guidance of Paul Goldstein, Stanford’s director of men’s tennis. ‘Phenomenal player, phenomenal team-mate,’ Goldstein tells Daily Mail Sport.
‘The things that stood out to me about Arthur, is his composure, his poise, his command at the moment.
He developed a brief addiction to cliff-diving to overcome fear – and it seems to have paid off
Fery beat Grigor Dimitrov in a five-set thriller to qualify for the last eight, and his world ranking will jump to at least 63rd
‘He was an independent thinker. He was working on things like breathing techniques – we exposed our guys to some of that, but he took it to the next level.’
In his final collegiate event, Fery faced Ben Shelton – then of Florida, now the world No5 – and narrowly lost. ‘First of all, he was right there with Ben Shelton, capable of winning that match,’ say Goldstein. ‘We had a dinner, just the two of us, before we traveled back, and it struck me how it felt like two peers having dinner, as opposed to a coach and a pupil with 25-plus year age gap.
‘It was a very special dinner for me. We talked a little bit about tennis, but not much.
‘He had an exceptional level of maturity for his age.’
Young Fery may have been wise beyond his years, but there was one area where his youthful exuberance prompted his parents to step in: when he developed a taste for cliff-diving.
‘I did that at one point,’ admits Fery, when confronted with the pictorial evidence on Instagram. ‘I got talked out of it by my parents. When I’m trying to make a career out of professional sports it’s not the smartest thing to do.’
Perhaps not but it has served a purpose. ‘I don’t feel like I’m a massive risk taker, I like control in what I’m doing,’ adds Fery. ‘But I did use (diving) to work on trying to overcome fear.’
He has certainly been utterly fearless this fortnight. Of Fery’s more orthodox athletic endeavours, Taylor lists: ‘Football, golf, swimming, he was a good runner – and he loved basketball.’
He has been described as ‘exceptionally mature’ and a determined young man who has overcome his height disadvantage
Note that last one: as a small child who stands at only 5ft 9in now, Fery gravitated to the two sports in which his height would be the greatest disadvantage. That surely tells us something about his personality.
‘He doesn’t see it as anything that’s going to hold him back – “I’m going to prove everybody wrong”,’ says Taylor.
‘People would say because he was tiny he’s at a disadvantage but he could always find a way to win.
‘(Smaller players) have to be exceptional in different ways to counteract that: exceptional movers, incredible tacticians or have good hands.’
Fery has ticked all three of those boxes this week and it appears his tactical nous, like his calm demeanour, has been passed down the maternal line.
Olvia won the women’s All England Club championship recently for her age group and Taylor reports of her style: ‘Like Arthur, she’s a winner, she plays a very smart game. A real all-court game.
‘His mum really deserves a lot of credit. She put in a lot of work with Arthur, not so much in the coaching but she hit with him and taught him the tactics. She played a huge role in his tennis upbringing.’
And so to the All England Club, where all this simmering talent has risen to the boil. Many have been surprised by Fery’s form – but not his fellow quarter-finalist Taylor Fritz.
‘I went to London and did a training week there prior to the 2024 World Tour Finals in Turin,’ he says. ‘I practiced with him most of the week.
‘I was playing well. I made finals of Turin the next week – he was beating me, like, every day. He was cooking me pretty consistently for the week.
‘I’ve known since then that he can play.’
Some have known that for an awful lot longer.
