Australian Open 2026: Arthur Fery stuns 20th seed Flavio Cobolli in first round
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23-year-old British qualifier Arthur Fery produced one of the performances of his career so far to knock out 20th seed Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Australian Open.
Making his Australian Open debut, Fery thrashed the Italian 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-1 to book his place in the second round.
It marks Fery’s first win at a major outside of Wimbledon and equals his career-best victory over then world No.22 Alexei Popyrin at SW19 last summer.
The British star now moves on to play Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who had to come through in five sets against Miomir Kecmanovic.
“It was an incredible experience here,” Fery said after the match. “It was my first time playing a main draw Slam outside of Wimbledon and it didn’t disappoint on such a great court with great fans.
“It was great to play on a big court and I love to play on the big stage. I saw a lot of British flags around the arena so it’s awesome to have that support.
“I was nervous before hand, but I came in through qualies, I was playing someone much higher ranked than me, I had nothing to lose. I felt like I held my nerve well in the third set as well. I feel really confident and that I don’t have to over play to play with guys like that.”
It was an assured performance from Fery, who had battled through three rounds of qualifying to earn his spot in this year’s Australian Open main draw.
The Briton showed good composure to see out the opening set. Having missed the chance to serve it out at 5-4 and a break point in the following game, Fery dominated the tie-break to take a one set lead.
Fery lost an early break lead in the second set but ramped up the pressure once again in the big moments. After breaking to love at 5-4 to win the set, it was all one way traffic in the Briton’s favour.
A double break in the third set gave Fery a comfortable platform to see out one the most significant wins of his young career.
Fery – who is supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – finished last season in strong form, winning the ATP Challenger title in Barranqilla and reaching the final in Athens.
In September, Fery also won on his Davis Cup debut for Great Britain in a Play-Off victory over Poland.
