When Daniil Medevev was winning his first US Open title back in 2021, Arthur Fery was watching on his mobile phone on the London Underground coming back from a music festival.
The story goes some way to highlighting the David and Goliath nature of Fery’s undertaking against Medvedev on Court No1 both in terms of size – he is nearly a foot shorter – and stature – he is 391st in the world and the lowest ranked player in the men’s draw.
But on Wednesday Fery played with the same confidence in which he told journalists unprompted prior to Wimbledon that he had earned three As at A-level just half an hour’s walk away at King’s College School.
In the end, it wasn’t enough but there was still a respectability in losing 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 to the world No3.
The British debutant played with a familiarity with Wimbledon, which said as much about the fact he grew up five minutes away and watched the marathon match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut among others.
That one lasted in excess of 11 hours, this was all over inside two hours and 15 minutes.
And yet his decision to rush the net, which he did throughout the match, regularly put Medvedev under pressure and twice saw him break the Russian’s serve.
From point one he had the crowd on his side which helped get him the early break and yet it always felt like Medvedev had the experience and expertise to reel him in.
And so it proved. A brief shower brought the players off court with the scores at 5-5 in the first set and, when they returned, Fery was immediately broken.
For Medvedev, it was a first Wimbledon appearance in two years having been among the Russian players banned from competing over the invasion of Ukraine, and he was warmly received by the crowd.
Fery had been introduced to the sport by his mother Olivier, a former French WTA Tour player, while the sporting background continues with his father Loic, who is the president of FC Lorient.
The 20-year-old is currently studying business at Stanford University where he is also shaping his tennis.
He has the grounding of a good game, particularly on the grass, but he all too often allowed Medvedev to break him, twice in each set from 12 opportunities.
The second-lowest ranked player in the men’s singles after Fery, George Loffhagen, had pushed Holger Rune to a tiebreak before their match was suspended because of rain.
When the pair returned to court, Loffhagen struggled to match Rune, who ran away a 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 winner.
