Wimbledon: Can Arthur Fery keep winning? Jamie Murray and Jamie Delgado are not surprised by the rise of British tennis star | Tennis News
Former doubles champion Jamie Murray and coach Jamie Delgado are not surprised by the growth of British tennis star Arthur Fery – but can the ‘uncomfortable’ player at 5ft 9in overcome a persistent bleeding problem and go on to win at Wimbledon?
Fery added to a day of English sporting heroes on Monday after becoming the first home player to reach the quarter-finals.
The 23-year-old entered the tournament ranked 114th, having won only two Grand Slams and never won a five-set match.
Now he has won two in a row, both in seemingly hopeless positions, after beating former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (10-7).
Recovering from 4-1 down in the fourth and fifth sets against Zizou Bergs on Saturday, Fery again showed resilience, fighting back in the fourth to open a clash with ninth seed Flavio Cobolli, whom he beat at the Australian Open.
After all the gloom surrounding British tennis to start these two matches, Fery’s run was a riot, and the crowd at Center Court roared for their new hero.
‘Fery plays proper lawn tennis’
Seven-time major doubles champion Jamie Murray was impressed with Fery’s performance.
“He is a person who plays proper grass court tennis, comes forward and knows how to play at the net, move the net and his composure. He has an inner confidence about himself and I didn’t think he was worried about moving to Center Court,” said the former doubles world No 1.
“He did very well from start to finish, he held his own as the experienced Dimitrov was the one who blinked at times. He should be proud of himself.
“Fery plays the right way with the skill of the field, good knowledge of the field. He is quick to move forward when he sees his opponents are not at the right level which many players are not able to do. Some do not feel comfortable playing in the net but he has good hand skills, his ability to play the ball better, and he moves as well as anyone left in the draw.
“He is definitely a player who is not comfortable for the boys to come out and play with him and I hope he recovers well because he has gone through five games in a row and it will be the first time in his life that he has done that.”
Fery’s progress has been hampered by injuries – including a broken bone in his arm, but Murray feels the Brit is the best player of the century.
He said: “A lot of people in British tennis had a lot of faith in him. What’s holding him back is his body and his injuries but that’s been a long time coming. His ranking is in the top 100 and he’s in that now.
“You know now he’s going to be in every major tournament in the next six months to a year.
The 23-year-old from Wimbledon will bid to become the fifth British player to reach the semi-finals here after Roger Taylor, Tim Henman, Sir Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie. But are you ready to stand out?
Murray said: “He’s got confidence in himself and he believes he’s a good player and he can do damage on the tour. I don’t see why he can’t have a really good career on the tour.
“He will have a good career because he is a good tennis player and he is different from most players and that is a big advantage.”
‘I’m not surprised by his level of play’
Jamie Delgado, Dimitrov’s coach, also spoke positively about Fery’s future, saying: “I know Arthur well so I knew he was winning matches recently and he is a good player. He has had a few injuries in the last few years, so he hasn’t been able to get a series of events and raise his level but I always thought he is a good player and he can go up.
“Did I think he would reach the quarter-finals here? Maybe not, but he is someone who can win matches at tour level and can play tennis at a high level.
“He moves very well. Stats show he’s very good at rebounding and staying on the mark so he’s good at that. If you’re at that level you’ve got to be extremely skilled and you’ve got to be able to hit the ball high and combine pace well, but I’m not surprised by his level of play.”
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