Arthur Fery Reveals Emotions After Realizing Roger Federer’s Presence in the Wimbledon Royal Box

British star Arthur Fery is yet to come to terms with his incredible moment of playing in front of Roger Federer at the Center Court on Monday (July 6). Federer, who was at SW19 on the 18th anniversary of his memorable battle with Rafael Nadal in the final, watched the 23-year-old reach his maiden Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Fery had played on Court 18 in his three opening matches at Wimbledon, but in his fourth-round match made his debut at Center Court. The World No.114 became the first player ranked outside the Top 100 in the ATP rankings to reach the last eight since Nick Kyrgios in 2014. Fery put in a determined display to overcome former World No.3 Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16.

The wild card player came from behind to win Dimitrov 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7) as the crowd cheered him in his impressive victory. The 23-year-old grew up in London, close to Wimbledon, and when he was young visited the All England Club to watch Federer and other top players in action.

In fact, his last visit to Center Court had been as an 11-year-old fan, watching the 2014 Wimbledon singles final between Federer and Novak Djokovic. However, when he turned professional, it was hard to come to Wimbledon as a player. This year is his second Wimbledon appearance in his career.

But despite not having a wealth of experience as a player at Wimbledon, he showed nerves of steel and battling qualities. He defeated Eastbourne champion Zizou Bergs in the third round on Saturday (July 4) and was broken down in the fourth set against Dimitrov. Speaking after his fourth-round win, he admitted he was nervous when he saw Federer in the royal box:

When I turned on the TV in the locker room to watch the women’s match, I saw that Roger Federer was in the Royal Box. I didn’t know he was going to come, and I immediately messaged my team saying, ‘Roger is in the box and I’m quite nervous.’ It’s incredible to be in a situation where one of the greatest players of all time is watching you play… and even more so to do it in a five-set match against Dimitrov on Centre Court at Wimbledon.

Fery was one of the top juniors, but he struggled to transition to professional tennis. Nonetheless, this grass-court season has been a revelation for the British star, as he reached the quarter-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships and the round of 16 at the Eastbourne International.

Arthur Fery reflects on a memorable moment he had with Novak Djokovic

Roger Federer isn’t the only member of the Big 3 that Arthur Fery has shared some memorable moments with on tour. In 2020, he was selected to be one of the hitting partners at the ATP Finals and practiced with Novak Djokovic a few times. However, after that experience, he attended Stanford University to major in Science, Technology, and Society.

During his time at the university, he was a two-time ITA All-American, a Pac-12 (Pacific Coast Conference) champion, and Pac-12 singles player of the year. During the aforementioned press conference, he recounted his time at the ATP Finals and admitted it was a great opportunity for him as a junior player then:

It was a great, great experience. I was really grateful that the ATP gave us that opportunity as the top juniors in the world to do that. It was during COVID so there were no spectators. We had to all be in the bubble in the hotel. I was spending all my two weeks around those top eight players. I hit with Novak, hit with Tsitsipas, loads of guys. I think Berrettini as well.

Fery will face Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon Championships on Wednesday (July 8). He has the chance to become the first wild card to win a Grand Slam since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Cobolli reached the last eight of the tournament last year before losing to Djokovic; he will aim to reach his second Grand Slam semi-final this season.

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