British Australian Open star enjoys strange coincidence after causing big upset | Tennis | Sport

It was deja vu for British qualifier Arthur Fery, who earned the joint-biggest win of his career in the first round of the Australian Open. The world No.186 stunned 20th seed Flavio Cobolli 7-6(1) 6-4 6-1 to advance to round two, and banked himself a guaranteed £112k (A$225k) in prize money.

It’s become something of a lucky number for the French-born Brit, who told the John Cain Arena crowd: “Seems like I like drawing 20th seed in main draws of Slams! I mean, Flavio is a great player. I would much rather have drawn someone obviously not as good as him, but it was great to play on a big court, and I love playing on big stages.”

Cobolli was visibly struggling during the match, needing bathroom breaks, repeatedly calling the trainer, and taking some tablets. The Italian later revealed that he picked up a stomach issue, which only set in half an hour before the match. But Fery focused on himself.

The British No.7 explained: “I wasn’t really paying too much attention to him. Obviously he had the physios on and off the court at the start. I knew his stomach was bothering him. But then he broke me a few times and was encouraging himself.

“Yeah, there was nothing really that I could do about his physical state. I just tried to focus on myself and put my game on the court and my best foot forward every time.”

Fery has yet to drop a set in Melbourne Park this year, winning three qualifying matches to make it into the main draw. The 23-year-old knows what it takes to cause an upset at a Major tournament after beating Popyrin at Wimbledon while he was a wildcard – but it was extra satisfying for Fery to earn a statement win outside of the UK.

The world No.186, who grew up in Wimbledon and played college tennis at Stanford, said: “It’s very satisfying. I was already happy to qualify here for my first time in the quallies of a slam on my own. And, yeah, now obviously coming through quallies and winning a round it’s, yeah, I’m proud of it.

“I mean, I was hoping that at some point I was going to be able to play other slams without needing wildcards. So yeah, that’s a good step forward for my career for sure.”

Fery will now face Argentine world No.62 Tomas Etcheverry, and is hoping to continue his fairytale run after his mum jetted in to watch his opening match. “When I won that last round, she asked me if she could come. I was, Of course, it would be nice to have you here. It’s obviously it’s a long way, but at least I made it worth it. She can see at least two matches – hopefully more,” he smiled.