With his mother, tennis star Olivia Féry, as inspiration, Arthur Fery picked up a racket aged five, and despite spending time studying science, technology and society at Stanford University, he always stayed dedicated to the sport. Now, fast forward to 2026, and he's the first-ever British wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The 23-year-old managed to beat Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court as Queen Camilla watched on from the Royal Box on Wednesday. Despite his lower ranking, he won in straight sets, delighting his family in the crowd, as well as King Charles' wife, who had offered him words of encouragement ahead of the match.
© PA Images via Getty ImagesOn Friday, he will face Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals, who is the world No 3. It turns out that whatever the outcome on the court, Arthur will be guaranteed to take home a whopping £900,000; that's because an exit in that round secures that money. If he then progressed to the final, he would either take home £1.8 million as a runner-up or scoop £3.8 million as the winner. The final also falls on Arthur's 24th birthday. If he takes this year's Wimbledon trophy, he will be the second wildcard to win after Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.
© WireImageHis £900,000 guaranteed pay packet is more than the total he has previously earned from his entire career in singles and doubles, according to The Times. His family are not short of money, though. His French-born parents are estimated to have a net worth of £275 million. His father, Loic Fery, is a multimillionaire hedge fund manager and the proud owner of Ligue 1 club Lorient, a French professional association football club based in Brittany.
Why does Arthur Fery play for Britain?
Despite his French background, Arthur plays for Great Britain. He grew up a short drive from the All England Club. When quizzed on this earlier this week, he said: "It's been a long time that I've lived in the UK. I've spent a lot of time here. I train at the National Tennis Centre. The federation helped me [a lot]. I feel completely British now. Maybe 10 years ago, [if] you [asked] me the question, it would be a bit different. Now I feel very British at heart."
© Getty ImagesArthur Fery on this year's successes
He told The Guardian that he has always believed in himself. "It's something that's been in the works for a long time. Again, I haven't gone from zero to this suddenly... I feel like you only really break through when you're ready to. Otherwise, you don't get through matches like I did today. So yeah, I feel like I'm ready... I've always believed in myself and believed that I could be a top player in the world."
