Arthur Fery became the first British man to reach the second round at Wimbledon in 2026, but the 23-year-old was eligible to represent France, the country of his birth. Both of Fery's parents are French, and he was born in Sevres, a few miles outside Paris. His father Loic is a businessman worth millions and the owner of Ligue 1 football club Lorient, while his mother Olivia is a former tennis player who competed in the 1991 French Open and later played for Hong Kong at the Fed Cup.
Path to Wimbledon Success
After a nightmare opening Monday at SW19—the worst for British players in the open era as none progressed—Fery came from a set down to beat Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina on Court 16. He secured a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory to set up a second-round meeting with giant-killer Otto Virtanen, who stunned American Ben Shelton in a final-set tie-break.
Fery's first-round match was not without drama. He was a set and a break down against Dzumhur when the Bosnian started a row with the umpire, but the Brit reacted better to reel off five straight games before winning the match in four sets.
Choosing Britain Over France
Fery chose to represent the country of his education rather than the country of his birth. He attended King's College School in Wimbledon and later played college tennis for Stanford University in the United States. His opponents on the college circuit included Ben Shelton, whom he might have faced next had the American not been stunned by Virtanen.
"I was never really pushed to play tennis but we lived very close to a tennis club and my mum played professional tennis as well—she was very good—so that pushed me to try out tennis at least," Fery told The Mirror in 2024. "I played football until I was 14, played rugby at school, played a bit of basketball, so I'm a sports fan in the first place and then had to kind of decide what sport I was going to take up, and tennis kind of worked out, so I stuck with it."
Fery's Response to British Woes
Fery was the only British man to reach the second round after a disastrous first day. "I knew that everyone [British] had lost yesterday. Did it change anything for me? No, not really," Fery said after his win. "I mean, yes, it's all the British players, but we're all individual and we all play for ourselves, right? I mean, it doesn't reflect in any way on me what the others do and vice versa. No, I'm just playing for myself. Yeah, obviously it's great when other Brits win, but I have nothing much to do with them."
Background and Family
Fery divided his childhood between London in term-time and France in the summer before jetting off to the United States. His father Loic is a prominent businessman, while his mother Olivia played professional tennis. Fery's diverse background made him eligible to represent multiple countries, but he ultimately chose Great Britain.
