LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 10: Arthur Fery of Great Britain plays a forehand against Alexander Zverev of Germany during their Gentlemen’s Singles semifinal match on day twelve of The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 10, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
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Arthur Fery’s dream run at Wimbledon came to an end in the semifinals, but the British wildcard scored a huge payday during the fortnight.
Fery, 23, entered Wimbledon with career earnings of $868,053 and will take home an additional $1.2 million after falling in the semis to No. 2 Alexander Zverev, 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4, before a huge pro-Fery crowd.
Had Fery scored the massive upset, he would have earned $2.415 million.
The payday doesn’t include the sponsorships he will likely pick up from becoming the first British wildcard in 25 years to reach the semifinals.
“He’s going to be a senior citizen on our tour because I think he’s going to play on this tour for 15+ years and I think he’s going to have great results,” Zverev said. “I think this was just the beginning of his career and I think he’s going to do amazing things in this sport.”
Fery, who was born outside Paris and raised in England, played three years of college tennis at Stanford; he compiled a 58-16 singles record and became a two-time ITA All-American. He was one of 26 former college players in the men’s draw.
He entered Wimbledon ranked No. 114 in the world, with just one main-draw victory at a major, and is now up to No. 36 in the Live Rankings.
“That’s a life-changing event for Fery,” ESPN’s Jason Goodall said on air. “So all of a sudden he’s knocking on the door of being seeded at the U.S. Open.”
Fery was a massive underdog against the newly-minted Roland Garros champion.
He was broken for 1-3 in the first set when he hit a backhand into the net.
Fery held his nerve and broke back thanks to a nifty crosscourt winner at the net followed by a Zverev forehand error.
Zverev won the tiebreaker at love and then won 10 consecutive points in the second set en route to a 3-1 lead. The German easily closed out the second set.
He close out his 13th straight major match on his serve and then embraced Fery at net.
Zverev improved to 18-1 in majors this year and is now one victory from completing the Roland Garros – Wimbledon double, “which would just be incredible to think about a year ago,” ESPN’s James Blake said on air.
He is the first German man in the final since Boris Becker in 1995 and will face the winner between No. 1 Jannik Sinner and No. 7 Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final.
Sinner holds a 10-4 edge on Zverev, while Djokovic leads their head-to-head 9-5.
“We got one more match to go on Sunday,” Zverev said, “and that’s what the focus is on.”