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British wildcard Arthur Fery lost a brutal three-set battle in the heat at the LTA’s HSBC Championships, narrowly missing out on his first ATP Tour semi-final.
The 23-year-old fought hard on the baking grass at Queen’s but eventually succumbed to a 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-4 defeat against world number 27 Francisco Cerundolo.
As temperatures soared in London, so did Fery’s level of tennis, but his fightback from a set and a break down fell just short.
“It was a tough match, he’s a good player,” said the world number 140. “I’m sure I’ll draw some important lessons from it but overall I’m happy with the week.
“The pressure of the match definitely got to me a little bit, in different stages of the match. Pure tennis-wise as well, there are lots of things I could improve. It’s a game of small margins.
“It’s great to have so many fans behind me. It’s why we play tennis, to play matches with that many people supporting you.”
Fery, who was playing his first-ever ATP Tour quarter-final, pointed to his opponent’s greater experience in the pressure moments as one of the key factors in the match.
“The main thing is the experience,” said Fery. “He’s probably played so many of these matches before in his career, with that level of importance attached to it.”
Despite his loss, Fery can hold his head high after a promising week on the grass.
World No 27 Francisco Cerundolo was pushed all the way by Arthur Fery (Getty)
He had produced a scintillating performance against experienced Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals. The British number five came through that match 7-6 (9-7) 6-4, thriving off the energy of the home crowd to overcome a mid-match nosebleed.
Next up is Wimbledon, where he has been granted a wildcard. He has played on the famous All-England Club lawns on three occasions, making his debut in 2023 against Daniil Medvedev on Court 1.
“[There’s] definitely some confidence to be taken from this tournament,” said Fery. “I played three really good matches, two went my way. It’s more matches on the grass and confidence to take forward.
“The goal is to focus on improving and if you keep winning matches, the rankings will come.”
Fery recorded his first-ever Grand Slam win at Wimbledon last year, upsetting 20th seed Alexei Popyrin to reach the second round.
Fery has enjoyed a fine week on the grass in west London (Reuters)
At the Australian Open in January, Fery followed that up with a straight-sets victory against Italian Flavio Cobolli.
With Cobolli going on to reach the Roland Garros final a few months later, Fery proved his level can hang with the world’s best – a trait he attributes to his U.S. college tennis days at Stanford.
“College tennis is very different,” said Fery. “It’s fast paced with the ‘no Ad’ [scoring] and a lot of shouting and high energy. So, it definitely teaches you to play in high stress moments.”
Though Fery’s loss means there are no British players left in the singles draw at Queen’s, British representation is guaranteed in the doubles final.
Brit Henry Patten and his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara won 4-6 6-3 10-4 in their quarter-final match-up against the all-British pair Marcus Willis and David Stevenson.
They will face British doubles specialist Neal Skupski and his American partner Christian Harrison for a place in the Queen’s final.
For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk.