Arthur Fery reveals shock career back-up plan despite reaching Wimbledon semi-finals

Jannik Sinner retained his Wimbledon crown on Sunday after defeating Alexander Zverev in the final, but Arthur Fery's magical run will live long in the memory.

Fery entered Wimbledon as a wildcard and was ranked No.114 in the world with just two career Grand Slam match wins under his belt.

But the 24-year-old soon made history at SW19, becoming only the fifth British man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals since the Open era kicked off in 1968.

A fairytale run to the last four began with a three-set-to-one victory over Damir Dzumhur, before battling wins against Otto Virtanen, Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov set up a quarter-final showdown with Flavio Cobolli.

Incredibly, Fery produced arguably his most complete performance in a straight-sets triumph over the world No.9 to set up a semi-final clash against Zverev.

Although he was on the receiving end of Zverev's dominance on Centre Court, the newly-established British No.1 still took home a staggering £900,000 from his exploits at SW19 - taking his total earnings to above £1million.

He also moved up 78 places in the world rankings to 36th, but despite becoming only the second wildcard entrant to reach a Wimbledon semi-final after Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, he isn't getting carried away with his success.

The Englishman has a keen eye on education and has studied for a degree in Science, Technology and Society at Stanford University - a prestigious private research centre in California.

"I haven't quite graduated yet, but I'm well on the way," Fery told talkSPORT.

"Three out of four years done, I can go back and finish it wherever I can back in California.

"I wanted to go to a good school in America to have good academics and a back-up plan in case tennis didn't work out."

Having a back-up plan proves that Fery is grounded despite coming from a wealthy family background, with his dad, Loic, once owning Ligue 1 side Lorient.

READ MORE: Arthur Fery to be given rare Wimbledon lifetime perk despite losing to Alexander Zverev

The 52-year-old is reportedly worth a whopping £275million after an extremely successful career as an asset manager and nearly bought Leeds United.

Arthur Fery predicted for ATP top 20

An incredible run to the Wimbledon semi-finals can create the platform for success in the sport, potentially following in the footsteps of Emma Raducanu, whose sharp rise to stardom began by winning the 2021 US Open.

Raducanu claimed victory in Flushing Meadows aged just 18 and has spent many of the following years as British women's singles No. 1.

Fery is ready to tackle being in the spotlight head-on, and former British No.1 Greg Rusedski believes he has what it takes to break into the ATP's top 20.

“His movement, he’s as fast as anybody on the tour; he’s got unbelievable returns," Rusedski said on BBC Radio Five Live after his defeat to Zverev.

“This is the moment he started his career. As Sascha Zverev said, we’re going to see this guy for a long time!”

“If he stays healthy, keeps committed, and keeps that mindset, he is going to be a top 20 player.

“As Richard Krajicek himself said, he believes he can even get to the top 10, because of his brilliant attitude and work ethic.

“It’s an exciting time! To have a new British number one, 36 in the world, and someone who is very watchable.”

The challenge for Fery is to maintain those performance levels in future tournaments, and then, perhaps, he will be knocking on the door of the sport's elite.