Arthur Fery undergoes medical procedure on eve of Wimbledon semi-final | Tennis | Sport
British wildcard Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon run has been transformed after undergoing a medical procedure in the middle of the tournament. The world No.114’s mid-match nosebleeds have been well documented, and Fery himself has admitted they could be a sign of stress or nerves.
The Brit’s team said he would consult doctors after the tournament. But Fery has exceeded expectations this fortnight, and decided to take action before his Centre Court debut earlier this week.
Speaking after he dispatched Cobolli in straight sets, the wildcard said: “I had a little procedure four days ago here on it. That seemed to help.
“Just getting the blood vessels cauterised in the nose. A small thing. Nothing major. Didn’t hurt. I’ve also tried to avoid wiping with a towel straight on the nose. I think that was also not helping, so just a combination of things, just a bit of luck as well.”
During the procedure, Fery’s broken blood vessels were lightly burned to seal them and stop the bleeding.
While the 23-year-old no longer has to worry about nosebleeds, he faces his toughest test yet against French Open champion Alexander Zverev.
At 6ft 6in tall, Zverev is nine inches taller than Fery, but the Brit said: “Playing big servers is something I’ve really improved on, accepting sometimes getting aced a lot, and having more pressure on my service games. I’m a great returner, I think. Just try to apply pressure that way.”
And Zverev has been impressed with what he’s seen from Fery, stretching back to his Aussie Open run as a qualifier. “The first time I watched him play was actually in Australia. He beat Cobolli in the first round. I watched that match,” the No.2 seed said.
“I was very impressed back then already. He has a very clean technique and very clean groundstrokes. I thought he was a very good tennis player already back then.
“Of course, it’s maybe a surprise a little bit that he’s in the semifinals. But I think he deserves it. The wins that he had, the way he fought back in a couple of those matches, is great to see. It’s a great story.”
