THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2023

Arthur Fery

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/A. Fery

7-5, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference for Arthur Fery.

Arthur, good experience being out there on one of the main courts of Wimbledon?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, it was obviously an unbelievable experience. Playing a player like Daniil was, yeah, just a great experience to take away. The crowd was great. Enjoyed every moment out there.

Yeah, definitely lots to take forward.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did it feel the moment you walked out there? That's something presumably even college tennis, you do get some decent crowds, but nothing compared to that.

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, no, definitely haven't had that before, walking out like packed Court 1. That was super special. Definitely couldn't really get ready for that no matter what I did before.

Yeah, I mean, just a great moment walking out there. Did it again after the rain delay. But, yeah, as the games went on, I felt a little more confident, yeah, slowly got going.

Q. You say you got more confident as it went on. Even your first game was pretty confident. You held to love, hit an ace. Talk about that first game, that feeling of having to steady your nerves. Looks like you did a really good job of that.

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, played a good first game. I was pretty set on how I wanted to play. In those moments just got to try to stick to a game style, have really clear mindset of what you're going to do.

Yeah, even though nerves probably were a little high, yeah, managed to play a really good first two games, which kind of settled me down. Yeah, you get used to the whole atmosphere, looking around. Slowly you just get used to it.

Q. You hadn't obviously played anybody near that ranking in a match before. How much confidence do you take that you were pretty close to him?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, look, definitely loads of things to take away. Playing on a big court and playing against, yeah, an unbelievable player. Some of the shots he hit today I hadn't seen before, didn't think were possible.

Definitely, yeah, widens the spectrum and the realm of things that you can do on a tennis court. Now that I know the top players do that, it's just a great experience. Lots to take out of it that I can take onto my next performance, and hopefully get back on the big courts here against the big players and feel like it's more of a normal thing.

Q. A similar question about if it alters your horizons. Can you remind us about the situation going forward with Stanford, the rest of the year.

ARTHUR FERY: Undecided yet whether I'm going to go back to college or not. I've just put it on hold so far. I've still got a fourth year to do. Not sure what I'm going to do yet regarding that. I'll have to choose, decide over the summer what I do.

But, yeah, experiences like that, like I had today, make me push towards going pro. I think I played well and handled my nerves well. I feel like it could be a pretty standard thing in the coming years to play in these tournaments on the big courts.

Yeah, I feel more and more ready as the years go by to switch to the pro career.

Q. You mentioned the rain delay. Obviously you started with the roof open, then it had to close. Is that a bit frustrating?

ARTHUR FERY: Yeah, no, actually waited for the rain to stop, they kept the roof open. It was open for the whole match.

Yeah, no, it was definitely weird. I think probably helped. I got broken at 5-All coming back. Gave me a bit of time to just think about what I was doing, yeah, what was going on.

But no, definitely don't regret how I handled that. I think it was beneficial in some ways.

Q. I haven't seen you play that much. Do you always come forward that much? Is that the style of tennis you feel is going to be your way to play?

ARTHUR FERY: I didn't want to change my game style because I was playing on Court 1 against one of the best players in the world. I think, especially against him, coming forward was a great tactic. Serve and volley. Standing so far back. Yeah, I got passed a few times, but I was probably going to lose more points from the back anyway.

Yeah, I think it was a good tactic. I think more and more guys are doing it against him. I was pretty happy coming forward. Obviously there were a few times where you make the wrong choice or the wrong shot. Yeah, I'm a pretty aggressive player. I think I showed that accurately today.