HSBC Championships 2026: Francisco Cerundolo ends Arthur Fery’s run in the quarter-finals
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Seventh seed Francisco Cerundolo brought an end to Arthur Fery’s dream run at the HSBC Championships with a straight-sets quarter-final victory.
British wild card Fery put in another impressive performance in front of the home crowd but ultimately lost out to the former Eastbourne champion 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 39 minutes.
Cerundolo books his place in his second career grass court semi-final and becomes the second Argentine to make the final four at Queen’s after David Nalbandian (2008 and 2012).
“Overall it was a good match from both of us, and I’m super happy to get through,” Cerundolo said.
“It was really tricky, he’s playing amazing on this surface. He’s really tough to play. I’m very happy to be in the semi-finals here at Queen’s.”
“Always in the grass season the British guys playing really good. They love playing here. They group playing on these courts so they play really smooth. The movement, they know how to play each ball.
“I just had to try to fight and do my best. Being from Argentina, I had never played on grass until I turned pro so every year is a new challenge.”
Cerundolo continues to build on his growing grass court resume – which includes the 2023 Lexus Eastbourne Open title.
So far this week, he’s defeated Aleksandar Kovecevic, Jenson Brooksby, and Fery, to book a semi-final clash with Brandon Nakashima.
Nakashima defeated top seed and world No.6 Alex de Minaur earlier today, but Cerundolo will fancy his chances to make a first ATP 500 final on grass.
Fery leaves The Queen’s Club having made his first ATP quarter-final and sealing what is set to be a new career-high ranking on Monday, but will regret missed opportunities against the world No.27.
The British star – who is supported by the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus – had the chance to serve for the opening set at 5-4 and also led 2-0 in the third.
At 30-15 on Fery’s serve in the third game of the deciding set, Cerundolo hit a brilliant backhand cross court, just out of reach of the approaching Brit, which seemed to be a turning point in the match.
Fery had break point again at 4-4, but Cerundolo held his nerve in the crucial moments and broke the Briton for a fifth time in the final game of the match.
“Disappointing finish today,” Fery said. “It was a tough match. He's a good player, and I'm sure I'll draw some important lessons from it. Overall, I’m happy with the week.
“I played two really good matches. Well, three really good matches. Two went my way. It's more matches done on grass and more matches and confidence to take forward.”
Fery will now have to use this experience through the rest of the grass court season, where he’s already received wild cards to play at the Lexus Eastbourne Open and at Wimbledon.
The Briton will now have a top-100 ranking firmly in his sights and will be hoping to break another milestone before the start of the hard court swing.
“It's positive,” he added. “I definitely see myself competing with these kind of players, and hopefully can bring the same level to Wimbledon.
“It would be nice to keep moving towards the top 100 and then obviously further than that. The goal is to focus on improving, on playing better tennis, and yeah, I mean, if you keep winning matches, the rankings will come.”
Meanwhile, Cerundolo returns tomorrow to face Nakashima. It’s only a second meeting between the two, but the first for six years. The Argentine won their previous clash at the Split Challenger back in 2020.
You can watch live coverage of the HSBC Championships at The Queen’s Club on BBC, BBC digital services and on Tennis Channel.
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