Arthur Fery shuns Wimbledon show court to play in front of 750 people

As the only British tennis player left in the men’s or women’s singles draw, Arthur Fery might have expected to be assigned a Wimbledonshow court on Saturday, but he has opted to play in front of 750 people.

Instead of making his debut on Centre Court with 15,000 fans cheering for him – or 12,345 on No 1 Court – he has chosen to play his third-round match against Zizou Bergs on Court 18.

“Arthur likes Court 18 and had a great match out there last time and putting him back out there fitted in with overall scheduling considerations,” an All England Club spokesman said.

Since the turn of the century, at least one Briton has stepped on to Centre Court during The Championships, but that could well change in 2026.

There are not many who would have predicted that Fery, ranked 114th in the world, would be the only British player to reach the third round, but the pressure of carrying the nation’s hopes might have been eased by the support of a large crowd.

After reaching the third round with a win over Otto Virtanen, when asked about playing on one of Wimbledon’s main courts, Fery seemed to contradict his love of an intimate venue such as Court 18. He said: “I’m not going to speculate, I assume one of those courts. It will be great to have a lot of people watching and a lot of support.”

Of all the 19 British players to walk on to a court in this year’s Championships, only Katie Swan has been afforded the chance to play on one of Wimbledon’s show courts, playing on No 1 Court for her second-round defeat by Madison Keys.

An odd feature of Fery’s grass-court season has been a spate of nosebleeds.

During his second-round match on Court 18, part of which was watched by the Princess of Wales, Fery had a nosebleed, as he had during his run to the Queen’s Club quarter-finals last month.

“There’s a plan in place for after the tournament to have a look at that and try to get that sorted,” said Alex Ward, the Lawn Tennis Association national coach who works closely with Fery. “We’re aware they’ve been happening in the last few matches. We’re not entirely sure the cause of it.

“It’s probably something to do with being on the match court, in that heightened environment, but it’s going to be hopefully sorted out post-[Wimbledon].”

Officially, Fery’s height is 5ft 9in, but he appears shorter than that, especially when playing against 6ft 4in Virtanen. There were only three players (Hugo Gaston, Dane Sweeny and Sebastian Baez) shorter than him in the main draw.

But despite his lack of inches, Fery has developed an array of skills to compete against players with a greater reach and more power behind their serves.

“He has to be an exceptional mover, and he has to be a better tennis player because he’s got a very good first serve, but he’s not going to get as many cheap points off first serves,” Ward said.

“He’s done that from a young age, an all-round game, being able to come to the net, defend, attack, use variation. In general, if you are on the shorter side, you have to be better at the skill side, and fortunately, he is.”

[Source: Daily Telegraph]