‘There was a lot of doubt and pain’: Arthur Fery on his dream Wimbledon run and the next step

‘I never thought that the semi-finals were possible. But I just took one match at a time and played the opponent, not the stage.’ Arthur Fery was the first British male wildcard to reach a grand slam singles semi-final. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

“I was around 300 in the world and still really struggling with my arm,” Arthur Fery says as he explains how life has changed from this time last year when, after his shock appearance in the Wimbledon semi-finals, he rose to No 36 in the rankings. His run of five victories, which produced a stunning turnaround in his career, was celebrated as a glorious “Fery-tale”.

But it does not take long in the company of the measured and thoughtful 24-year-old for the grit to emerge from the deeper shadows in his story. There has been more pain than glory in the long hard slog to this point but, amid the doubt caused by his injury, Fery’s self-belief has remained intact. As he says in Cincinnati, his success at Wimbledon provides a dizzying contrast to the testing times he has endured.