HSBC Championships 2026: Wild card Arthur Fery impresses in second round win over Adrian Mannarino
• 3 minute read
Arthur Fery’s Queen’s Club dream continues as the 23-year-old British star booked a place in his first ATP quarter-final at the HSBC Championships.
Fery relished his debut on the Andy Murray Arena – putting in an impressive performance to knock out the experienced Adrian Mannarino 7-6(7), 6-4 in an hour and 42 minutes.
He becomes only the seventh British wild card to reach the last eight at Queen’s, joining Chris Bailey (1989), James Ward (2011), Kyle Edmund (2016), Jack Draper (2021), Ryan Peniston (2022), and Billy Harris (2024).
Fery stayed composed in the big moments against a player who has reached the quarter-finals at Queen’s three times and knocked out third seed and Roland Garros semi-finalist Jakub Mensik in the first round.
The British No.5 got the better of his opponent in a close first set tie-break with some composed, high-quality grass court tennis, and then broke at 4-4 in the second set.
It was a great moment for the young British player, competing at a tournament he grew up watching and enjoying as a kid.
“It’s so special to be playing tennis in London, where I grew up, in front of all the British fans. It’s unbelievable,” he said in his on-court interview.
“It’s the best result of my career so far I’d say. First quarter-final in an ATP tournament. It’s not easy, there are lots of ups and downs. I’m really happy to get through and I have a great team behind me as well.”
The last 12 months have been a breakthrough for the former No.1 ranked player in the NCAA for Stanford University.
Fery finished the grass court season last year with his career-first Grand Slam and top-50 win against Alexei Popyrin at Wimbledon.
He went on to qualify for the Australian Open for the first time at the start of this year and knocked out world No.22 and recent Roland Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli.
The Briton recently reached an ATP Challenger semi-final in Zagreb, before moving onto the grass with a run to the final four in Birmingham as well.
Off the back of this result, Fery is up to a career-high world No.116 in the rankings and closing in on a place in the top-100.
It was also announced this week that he will have a main draw wild card into the men's singles at Wimbledon.
“It’s important (to take these opportunities),” he added. “At the same time I can’t put too much pressure on myself. Tennis is difficult and you get wins and losses every week. I’m just trying to put my best foot forward every match and trying to improve.”
Three key stats
- Winning the longer rallies - Fery won 78% of points with rallies over nine shots
- Stealing points - In the last four games, Fery won 56% of points when defending compared to a draw average 32%
- Capitalising on first serve - Fery lost just five points behind his first serve throughout the match
The British crowd has certainly found a new fan-favourite for this year’s grass court season – with chants of ‘Arthur, Arthur, Arthur’ around the Andy Murray Arena.
He’ll need the support again on Friday when he comes up against seventh seed Francisco Cerundolo.
The Argentine is a former Eastbourne champion and has looked in great form himself this week. In the second round, he comfortably saw off fellow Eastbourne finalist Jenson Brooksby 6-0, 6-4.
Fery will go into the match full of confidence. The British star is serving well, having won 88% points on his first serve against both Mannarino and Toby Samuel in the opening round. He’s still only faced two break points the entire tournament so far.
No doubt he’ll be ready for the challenge ahead come quarter-finals day at the HSBC Championships.
You can watch the HSBC Championships live on the BBC, BBC digital services, and on Tennis Channel.
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