Australian Open 2026: Arthur Fery qualifies for main draw debut in Melbourne
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Britain’s Arthur Fery has sailed into the main draw of the Australian Open for the first time in his career after easing through three rounds of qualifying.
The 23-year-old dispatched Croatia’s Dino Prizmic 6-4, 6-1 in the final round of qualifiers to punch his ticket to this year’s men’s singles draw.
This is the first time Fery has qualified for the main draw of a major outside of Great Britain, with all three of his previous Grand Slam appearances coming at Wimbledon.
Speaking on qualifying for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, the British No.7 said, "It was a big milestone for me to play Slams on my own ranking and having qualified brings a lot of joy to me and pride.”
Fery – who is supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme presented by Lexus – recorded three straight set victories in qualifying, including wins over Australia’s Edward Winter and Bernard Tomic.
He now becomes the seventh British tennis player to feature in the Australian Open singles main draw this year – joining Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal, Francesca Jones, Katie Boulter, Cam Norrie and Jacob Fearnley.
Last summer, the British star claimed his first Grand Slam win at Wimbledon, beating 20th seed Alexei Popyrin in four sets and will be hoping to cause an early upset at Melbourne Park as he prepares to face 20th seed Flavio Cobolli in the first round.
Since his win at SW19, Fery has built up plenty of momentum across the ATP Challenger Tour. In August, he claimed his first Challenger title in Barranquilla, finished runner-up at the Athens Challenger in November and reached a further three quarter-finals – leading him to a career-high ranking of world No.185.
Fery's impressive form also saw him be rewarded with a spot on the Lexus Great Britain Davis Cup team for the first time during their Play-off tie against Poland back in September. There, he recorded a victory on debut against Olaf Pieczkowski.
George Loffhagen also reached the final round of qualifying but was unable to get over the line against Nishesh Basavareddy – losing 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
The draws for the Australian Open main draw were announced today, with the Brits discovering who they will face in the opening round.
