WIMBLEDON, United Kingdom – Arthur Fery grew up just steps away from the most prestigious grass tournament in the world. In 2026, Fery has captivated England, the tennis world, and the Stanford community with his incredible run to the semifinals. Fery will compete in the Wimbledon semifinals on Friday, July 9 on Centre Court against second seeded Alexander Zverev.
Fery is one of seven players in the storied history of Stanford men’s tennis to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon along with Ted Schroeder, the 1949 Champion, Sandy Mayer, Roscoe Tanner, Pat DuPre, Tim Mayotte, David Wheaton and three-time champion John McEnroe, who reached the semifinal round of Wimbledon eight times.
The Wimbledon native arrived at Stanford at the age of 18 as part of the nation’s top-rated recruiting class, and as a player who had seen considerable success on the junior level. Fery was a semifinalist at Wimbledon in boys’ doubles and reached the third round of the boys’ singles draw in 2019, and he was ranked as high as No. 12 in the world as a junior.
“Upon looking at the array of colleges across the country, Stanford immediately caught my eye,” said Fery in 2020 upon his commitment to Stanford. “The incredibly high level of academics, combined with the great tennis program they run, incited my final decision to commit to Stanford.”
Fast forward six years, and Fery sits atop the biggest stage in the tennis world alongside fellow semifinalists Zverev, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. A dynamic player who was a two-time All-American, one-time Academic All-American, Pac-12 Champion and Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year at Stanford, Fery has won five consecutive matches to reach the semifinal round.
June 30: First Round
Fery’s tournament began against Bosnian Damir Džumhur, who entered Wimbledon ranked No. 105 in the world. After falling behind with a first-set loss, 6-3, Fery regrouped for set wins of 6-3, 6-2 and 6-1 to win the match in four sets. With the win, Fery advanced to the second round of Wimbledon for the second consecutive season, as the former Stanford student defeated 20th seeded Alexei Popyrin in 2025.
July 2: Second Round
A foreshadowing of comeback efforts to come, Fery once again survived a first set loss in a victory in the second round. In defeating Finland’s Otto Virtanen, ranked No. 140 in the world, Fery secured his first third round appearance in a grand slam. Fery also reached the second round of the 2026 Australian Open, defeating 20th-seeded Flavio Cobolli – a name that would pop up again less than a week later.
July 4: Third Round
Fery’s third round victory over Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, ranked No. 37 in the world, included his most difficult comeback effort of the tournament. After trading the first two sets, Bergs posted a 6-2 win in the third set to take the lead in the match. The Belgian held a 4-1, double-break lead in the fourth set, but Fery responded with four consecutive games to pull ahead in the set, eventually winning a tiebreaker, 7-3, to push the match to a decisive fifth set. Once again, Bergs held a 4-1 lead in the fifth frame, but Fery showed his resilience to level the set at 5-5. Heading to a 10-point tiebreaker, Fery outlasted Bergs 10-5 to reach the fourth round, becoming the first Stanford player to reach the fourth round of a grand slam since David Wheaton at the 1996 US Open.
July 6: Fourth Round
A battle between two wild cards of drastically different profiles met in the fourth round. On one side was the rapidly ascending Fery and the other was former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov. After taking the opening set, Fery faced familiar circumstances later in the match as Dimitrov built a 2-1 lead. The fourth set included multiple breaks of serve, the most impactful of which came at 4-4 with his third break of the set to push the match to another fifth set.
For the second match in a row, Fery’s hopes of advancing came down to a 10-point tiebreaker in the fifth set. Leading 7-6, Fery’s backhand return forced an errant shot from Dimitrov for the mini-break. With a chance to serve for the match, Fery won the final two points to reach the quarterfinals. With the result, Fery became the first British men's wild card to reach the quarterfinals at any Major in the Open Era (since 1968) and the first Stanford player to reach a quarterfinals at Wimbledon since John McEnroe made the semifinals in 1992.
July 8: Quarterfinals
The toughest opponent to date at Wimbledon happened to be a player with which Fery had recent history: Ninth-seeded and No. 10 player in the world from Italy, Flavio Cobolli. While the first four rounds were marked with resilience and the ability to come from behind, the quarterfinal match will be identified not by Fery’s acts of escape, but through his dominance. Fery defeated Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0 to reach the semifinals, matching his straight-set win from the Australian Open six months prior.
Entering the tournament ranked No. 114 in the world, Fery now stands to jump 78 spots to No. 36 – tied for the 15th-best ATP ranking by any Stanford connected player.
With the win, Fery becomes the fifth British player to reach the semifinals in the Open Era and the first British wild card. Only four men have reached a Grand Slam men's semifinal as a wildcard, with Fery joining Jimmy Connors (1991 US Open), Henri Leconte (1992 French Open) and Goran Ivanisevic (2001 Wimbledon). Ivanisevic won the 2001 Wimbledon title.