Former doubles specialist Jamie Murray and coach Jamie Delgado aren’t surprised by the rise of British tennis star Arthur Ferry – but can the “awkward” 5ft 9in player overcome his constant nosebleeds to keep winning at Wimbledon?
Ferry added to England’s sporting heroics on Monday after incredibly becoming the first home wildcard to reach the quarter-finals.
The 23-year-old entered the tournament ranked 114th, having only won two Grand Slams and never won a five-set match.
He has now won two in a row, both from seemingly hopeless positions, after beating former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (10-7).
After coming back from 4-1 down in both the fourth and fifth sets against Zizou Bergs on Saturday, Ferri showed his resilience again, fighting back from two breaks in the fourth to set up a clash with ninth seed Flavio Cobolli, whom he beat at the Australian Open.
After all the doom and gloom that had surrounded British tennis in the first two weeks, Ferry’s streak was a plot twist and the Center Court crowd roared to welcome their new hero.
“Ferry plays tennis on the grass”
Jamie Murray, the seven-time major doubles champion, was suitably impressed with Ferry’s performance.
“He’s someone who plays tennis on grass, gets forward and knows how to play at the net, move at the net, and he’s got composure. He’s got an inner confidence and I don’t think he’s worried about going out on center court,” said the former doubles number one.
“He played so well from start to finish, kept his composure throughout, and the experienced Dimitrov was the one who blinked at times. He should be proud of himself.
“Ferry plays the right way, with good skill, good court awareness. He moves forward very quickly when he sees his opponent lose his balance, which not many players can do. Some are not as comfortable playing at the net, but he has great hand skills, his ability to improvise, and he moves as well as anyone left in the draw.
“He’s definitely an awkward player for guys to step up and play with and hopefully he’ll recover well because he’s gone five-set matches in a row and it’ll be the first time in his career.”
Ferry’s progress has been hampered by injuries – including a bone bruise in his arm – but Murray believes the Briton is a top 100 player.
He said: “A lot of people in British tennis had a lot of faith in him. What held him back was his body and injuries, but that lasted for a long time. His level is in the top 100 and he is good at it now.
“Now he knows he’s going to be in all the major tournaments for the next six months to a year.”
The 23-year-old from Wimbledon will be looking to become only the fifth Briton to reach the semi-finals here after Roger Taylor, Tim Henman, Sir Andy Murray and Cameron Nora. But is he ready to be in the spotlight?
Murray said: “He’s got that inner confidence and belief in himself that he’s a good player and can do some damage on the tour. I don’t see why he can’t have a really good career on the tour.
“He’s going to have a good career because he’s a good tennis player and he’s different from a lot of players and that’s a big advantage.”
“I’m not surprised by his level of play”
Jamie Delgado, Dimitrov’s coach, was also positive about Ferry’s future, saying: “I know Arturo quite well, so I knew he’s been winning matches recently and he’s a talented player. He’s had a lot of injuries in the last few years, so he hasn’t been able to analyze events and improve his ranking, but I’ve always thought he’s a very good player and can climb the rankings.
“Did I think he would get to the quarter-finals here? Probably not, but he is definitely someone who can win matches at the tour level and is capable of playing really good tennis.
“He really moves exceptionally well. Stats show he’s better at hitting balls and staying in the dot, so he’s great at that. When you’re at that height you have to be extremely talented and you have to be able to hit the ball at different heights and mix the tempo well, but I’m not surprised by his level of play.”
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