Arthur Fery continued his surprise run to the Wimbledon men’s semifinal on Wednesday with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 win over No. 9 seeded Flavio Cobolli. The 23-year-old Fery, who moved from France to England when he was one month old, is ranked No. 114 in the world and had a career record of 6-8 at the ATP level prior to this tournament.
It feels practically destined that Fery would succeed at Wimbledon. He grew up a few minutes from the grounds of The Championships and trained as a junior at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, England, where Wimbledon’s qualifiers are held. His mother is a former professional tennis player and a member of the All England Club.
Fery has already earned approximately $1.2 million for reaching the semis at Wimbledon, more than doubling his career total of $884,000 in prize money earnings prior to last week.
It’s not like his family is new to money, however, or to success in sports. Fery’s father, Loic Fery, is a hedge fund manager estimated to be worth more than $300 million, and he is the president of Ligue 1 soccer club FC Lorient, which sold to billionaire and Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley earlier this year.
Fery may not have even competed at Wimbledon this year had he not received a wild card into the event. Only the top 104 players in the world automatically qualify for Grand Slam singles draws. Players whose ranking falls below that threshold but within the top 250 or so can compete in the qualifying draw the week before and try to earn a spot in the main draw by winning three consecutive qualifying matches. The only other way to play is via a wild card.
