Arthur Fery, the British wildcard who made history at Wimbledon, has invited Prince George and Princess Charlotte to play tennis with him. Fery met the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with their children, after his remarkable run to the men's singles semi-finals.
Historic Wimbledon Run
Fery became the first British wildcard to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam in the open era. He attended the men's singles final on Sunday, where Jannik Sinner claimed his second consecutive title, and met the royal family. Prince William and Princess Catherine congratulated Fery on his achievement.
Fery, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Sunday, revealed that he extended an invitation to the royal children. "I know the whole family are all tennis fans," he said. "So I told her if her kids ever wanted to hit, I'm free." Asked whether he thinks they will accept, Fery replied: "Let's see, I don't know. Let's see if I get the call up."
Rise to Stardom
Fery shot to prominence during this year's tournament, despite losing in the semi-finals to Alexander Zverev. He arrived at SW19 as the world number 114, having never advanced beyond the second round of a Grand Slam. Now, he is set to become the new British number one and rise to 36th in the world rankings. His exploits have also earned him £900,000 in prize money.
Suddenly a household name, Fery is preparing for increased attention. "Yes, even already a little bit during the tournament I was thinking of life after and how I was going to handle all that because we've seen it with people who've broken through in that manner before," he told Sky News. "With Emma (Raducanu) obviously, Emma won a Slam and I didn't but there was still a lot of media attention. It is going to be really important to handle that - the expectation from myself and also the public."
Looking Ahead
Fery sees the positives in his new status. "It means I can play the top players week in week out and compare myself to them and keep working on my tennis," he said. "I am going to have to get accustomed to the full life of tour with more media attention and all of that but I think I'm ready for it. It is going to be a first as well playing the US Open. I didn't even play qualifiers last year so it's going be a great experience."
