Arthur Fery’s breakthrough run at Wimbledon has now come to an end.
Fery made tennis history at Wimbledon this year, with the wildcard beating the likes of Flavio Cobolli and Grigor Dimitrov en route to the semi-finals.
The Briton was unable to reach the final at SW19, with Fery being beaten by Alexander Zverev 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4.
With Fery receiving the most exposure he has had in his young career so far at Wimbledon, eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi has now given his verdict on what is in store for the future of the 23-year-old.
Andre Agassi praises ‘talented’ Arthur Fery after Wimbledon exit
Both Tim Henman and Agassi reacted to Fery’s defeat live on the BBC, as they both highlighted the problems he faced against a player like Zverev.
Although he was unable to put up a real test against Zverev, Agassi was full of praise for Fery’s movement and backhand in particular and backed him to push on in his career from this.
Where will Arthur Fery be ranked at the end of the year?
He's up 78 places from 114th!
“We all understood it was going to be a tall order for Fery,” said Henman. “He tried everything, in the first game he was trying to give Zverev different looks, but Zverev’s power behind the first serve was absolutely immense.
“And Fery, as hard as he tried and wanted to give the crowd something to get their teeth stuck into, he was just a different class today and that is a reflection of where he is at with his game having won his first Grand Slam. He has taken that confidence on to grass courts.”
Agassi responded, “I think it’s been a great, fantastic few weeks and credit to the folks here for giving him a wildcard.
“He is such a talented player. He moves so well, I guess it’s hard to be smaller and slow, but he moves unbelievably. I love his backhand, he can go through the court in both directions. He has great feel and great hands with the slice.
“The problem I see with the match up today is that his forehand tends to be more of a ball with rotation on it and sits up, which is great for Zverev, who likes to hook his ball across. Zverev is just going to eat all day on that shot.
“With his height returning is an interesting proposition because you are kind of damned if you do or damned if you don’t. You want to back up and give yourself time but you don’t really have the leverage or the time. It’s not really an option because Zverev can hit his spots with pace and then you are behind and then stepping up is also dangerous because the speed of the serve was at its full glory.
“But he is still making all the neutral points a battle. The problem is most of the neutral points were played on his serve. He is a fighter though and I like his chances of not just having a great two weeks but having one heck of a career.”
What is next for Arthur Fery?
Fery will be heavily rewarded for his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, as he now shoots up to world number 36 as the new British number one.
The Briton’s schedule is now up in the air, as Fery will now be able to enter tournaments that he previously was unable to due to his new ranking.
This includes direct entry into the US Open, a tournament where Fery has never even played in qualifying before.
Fery is even higher than his current ranking in the race to the ATP Finals, as he now sits in 26th position.
This is represented by the minimal number of points Fery has to defend this year, with just 189 coming off his ranking now until 2027.
