The most pertinent question surrounding the rapidly blossoming career of Arthur Fery is exactly how far he could possibly take his game. Fery’s unexpected breakthrough run at Wimbledon last month was immense, but now he faces the intriguing challenge of seeing how he stacks up against the elite over the course of a gruelling 52 weeks on tour. Fery ended his first tournament since Wimbledon with countless reasons to be positive about his progress even as he was outperformed by Alex de Minaur in a rain-swept encounter, with Fery, the 32nd seed, making life incredibly difficult for the fifth seed for more than two hours and fighting desperately until the end before falling 7-5, 7-6 (3) in the third round of the Cincinnati Open.
This was a tight encounter even once De Minaur took control. Fery began serving well but, after not facing a break point in his first five service games, one loose game on his serve allowed the Australian to break through. De Minaur, who was cheered on from his player box by his wife and Fery’s fellow British No 2 Katie Boulter, returned from the rain delay between the first and second sets on fire, his supreme defensive skills narrowing the court and exposing Fery’s relative lack of raw firepower.
However, a rain delay at 5-7, 1-5 allowed Fery to regroup and he returned from the break completely relaxed and striking the ball beautifully as he dragged De Minaur into a tie-break before surrendering the match. Fery leaves Mason, Ohio, having put together another strong week filled with valuable experiences. Exactly a year ago, the 24-year-old won his first ATP Challenger title in Barranquilla, a monumental result in his career.
Here, he reached the third round of a Masters 1000 with only one win, a bruising 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) victory over James Duckworth after receiving a first-round bye. He still earned nearly as many points – 50 to 75 – for one win in Cincinnati and his prize money of $36,110 here, his biggest paycheck outside his three grand slam main-draw appearances, is $22,000 greater than his earnings in Colombia. When players first reach the top level of the ATP or WTA tours, one significant adjustment is understanding that they will not win as many matches as they are used to, but they are still performing at a much higher level.
Fery’s victory over the world No 86, Duckworth, was by ranking the sixth-best win of his career. Competing regularly against players of De Minaur’s quality is what will allow him to continue to progress as a player. Such is the uncertainty of tennis scheduling, Fery and De Minaur already had to wait around for hours as Flavio Cobolli, the seventh seed, completed his two-hour, 29-minute comeback win against Alexander Blockx.
Once they finally made it to the court, they played less than two games before rain forced them off. Fery and De Minaur returned to stiflingly humid conditions, with both players sweating profusely and trying to remain as fresh as possible in a physical match. Fery looked comfortable early on, taking care of his service games well as he constantly looked to take the ball early, dictate from the baseline and conjure opportunities to close down the net.
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