THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 8, 2026

Arthur Fery

Press Conference

A. FERY/F. Cobolli

6-4, 7-6, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Arthur, a Wimbledon semifinalist. If someone had said that to you at the beginning of The Championships, what would your response have been?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, I've always believed in myself and believed that I could, yeah, be a top player in the world. Yeah, obviously a semifinalist of Wimbledon is something else.

I've taken it match by match. I haven't looked ahead. I've just played every match as it is. Yeah, here I am.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Do you feel a bit more like you were running things today? Obviously you had to come from behind in the last couple of matches.

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, I felt, as I said on court, not comfortable but a bit more confident in playing someone that I'd played before on a big stage.

Yeah, even throughout the match I felt like it was very, very close. At times he was serving really well. But I felt like I had always a little bit, not of leeway, but a little bit of an edge. Yeah, managed to get through the second, which was huge, and then got through the third.

Q. When you're standing just ready to go out to Centre Court, then you turn around and see the queen there, what was that moment like?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, we were getting ready to come on and she came to say hello, she introduced herself to both me and Flavio. Yeah, it's obviously an honor to play in front of her. Great to meet her. She had some really kind words to me at the end, as well. So yeah, playing in front of tennis legends and now the queen, so it's special, yeah.

Q. You looked like you carried yourself with a huge amount of self-belief. How are you feeling about playing a semifinal on Friday?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, that's just what I've tried to do for the past 10 days. Yeah, just believe in myself, do the best I can do every match, give myself 100%, and see then where that will take me.

Yeah, today especially, because I've beaten him in Australia, so I knew I could do it, and yeah, I did.

Q. Maybe less of a surprise to you than it is to everyone else?

ARTHUR FERY: I mean, today's match maybe. I was nervous, because I really felt like, although I was in the quarterfinal for the first time of a slam, I felt like I could really beat my opponent of the day. Then yeah, more globally, no, not really.

Q. We asked you I think early on about the notion of being the last Brit standing. You sort of said it wasn't really anything in your mind. That was the third round. Now being in the semifinals is quite different. Are you starting to get a sense of the kind of national significance of this run, carrying the hopes of the nation?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, I'm starting to. Yeah, it's only going to grow match after match that I win. At the same time, it's good that I don't have two weeks before my next match. They keep coming fast. So that's good, in a sense. I'm not looking too much at social media. Just staying in my bubble and just carrying on.

Q. It was mentioned on court your fellow wildcard, Goran Ivanisevic's achievement here, and I appreciate that's before you were born. I don't know if you know about his story or met him?

ARTHUR FERY: No, never met him. Yeah, I knew beforehand that he was the only wildcard to ever win a Grand Slam. So yeah, I mean, it's obviously an incredible story. I've watched the highlights of the final before.

I'm not going to speculate too much or think ahead of what that could be like. I'm just going to keep thinking ahead about my match on Friday, and then we'll see how it goes.

Q. You've spoken quite a lot about your French roots as well. How well are you aware of the enthusiasm you've been creating in France? Have you received any messages?

ARTHUR FERY: I have ties to France. My family, my parents, cousins, family friends, friends. Also a lot of support from there. Yeah, I haven't been listening to the news too much or focusing on that.

Obviously I play for Great Britain. Being here in London, I really feel the support of the British public more so, yeah.

Q. It's five years now on since we had another British wildcard who had a big run in Wimbledon, Emma Raducanu. I think you played quallies here that year. What are your memories of that breakout run and whether you can draw any inspiration or some other kind of wisdom from watching a young Brit break out at Wimbledon?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, my memory of it was that it was impressive how she didn't let the occasion get to her. She would just keep going match after match, playing well, beating top players. That was until the title.

It's very tough to do when you're not used to being on the stage, on such a big stage. She did it great when she won the US Open.

Yeah, I've been trying to do that, as well. Just take it match by match, play my game, put what I do best on court, yeah, keep doing that.

Q. Stanford, what kind of impact do you think that experience has had on you? On the French aspect, how culturally French do you feel? Is French your first language at home?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, Stanford was a great experience. I went there when I was 18. I wasn't necessarily ready to go and play professional tournaments straightaway. Yeah, as we've seen now, as well, more and more, a lot of top juniors are going to the States.

Yeah, I did three years there. Gave me time to mature. Made great friends. Still pursue academics. Had great coaches. Paul Goldstein was here today, as well. He flew over. Had his support, which was great.

Yeah, it was just a great fit for me, great place. Gave me a combination of academics and tennis.

In regards to the French, I mean, honestly, less and less these days. I've now lived here a long time. Maybe 10 years ago, you asked me that question, I probably would say maybe felt more French than English. Now it's not the case at all. Yeah, I feel very British. I live here. All my best friends live here. I went to school here. I train here.

Obviously my parents are still French, so we speak French with my family and cousins who still live in France.

No, my roots are very much tied to London now.

Q. You spoke about you have to concentrate on the next match. You're going to be playing one of the biggest servers in the world. How do you like playing big servers typically? How do you find that?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, it's something that I've really improved in my game to, yeah, more generally being on defense and being more comfortable being on defense.

Yeah, playing big servers is something I've really improved on, accepting sometimes getting aced a lot, and having more pressure on my service games, because I know they run through theirs sometimes easily.

Yeah, I'm a great returner, I think. Just try to apply pressure that way.

Q. You mentioned pressure. You really seem to have unsettled really three good opponents in a row by putting relentless pressure on them. Do you feel confident you can do against Zverev, as well?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, I was down, not today but in the matches before, I was down and close to losing. Yeah, I managed to stay in the match, fight well, put pressure and make them win the match.

Obviously I have the crowd behind me here, which is a huge help, especially on Centre Court, when you have so many people pushing me. I've been trying to use the crowd to my advantage in important moments, just to add a little pressure maybe to the opponents.

Yeah, I'll try and do that again at moments that feel right on Friday.

Q. There's a British junior, as well, that is a wildcard that's in the quarterfinals tomorrow. I'm wondering what advice you would give him?

ARTHUR FERY: Sorry, I didn't quite hear you. Are you saying the wildcard in juniors is also a Brit?

Q. He was not expected to be where he is. He's in the quarterfinals. What advice would you give him? He's also going over to the States for college.

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, yeah. That's great. I didn't know. It's great for British tennis. Happy for him, as well.

I mean, I haven't seen him play. I don't know anything about him. It's tough to give him advice.

But yeah, on that scale of juniors, there will be more attention I guess on him, as well. More pressure as the tournament carries on for him, as well.

Yeah, just not get taken away in the excitement and the distractions of moving forward in the tournament. Just stick to your game, yeah.

Q. I read some of your earlier coaches compared you with Kei Nishikori. Do you have any other comparisons?

ARTHUR FERY: I mean, that's a good thing to be compared to such a great player like Nishikori.

Yeah, I would say similar height. Yeah, I mean, Kei had a great, great backhand that he really relied on. I also feel like I have a very natural backhand.

Other comparisons? I don't have any off the top of my mind right now. I used to sometimes be compared a little bit to Agassi in the way that I stay close to the baseline, take balls early.

Yeah, just trying to play my own way and make a name for myself.

Q. You said in your previous rounds that sometimes later on in the match your legs were feeling heavy. The crowd got behind you. How are you feeling physically, mentally?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, it was hotter today, and I felt it definitely. It was good I only played two hours and a bit, which was nice for the recovery.

Yeah, I feel tired. I feel mentally tired physically. That's been the case for the past five days. That's also something that's really grown my confidence. I now feel like I can play even when I'm tired, even when I'm stressed. In any conditions, I feel confident in my game and I know that I can just go out there and compete.

Q. Zverev obviously is the most recent Grand Slam champion. How much will you relish that, going out on Centre Court and taking him on? And what did the queen say to you?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, Zverev is a step up again. I'm ready for it. I have nothing to lose. I'm just going to go out there and, yeah, just put my game on the court, do what I've done, believe in myself. We'll see where that takes me.

Yeah, the queen, she was waiting for me at the end of the match. She congratulated me. I told her how much of an honor it was for me to play in front of her. She just said, Congratulations, keep going.

I told her it was my birthday on Sunday, so it would be great to play the Wimbledon final on my birthday (smiling).