Wimbledon dream over for Arthur Fery after straight-sets semi-final defeat by Alexander Zverev

Arthur Fery is relishing the next stage of his career following his breakthrough run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon, which forced him to cancel a planned holiday to Greece.

Fery arrived at the All England Club as the world No 114 on a wild card, but quickly became one of the feel-good stories of the summer in a Championship which saw 15 British hopefuls wiped out in the first round.

The 23-year-old has wowed fans over the last two weeks with his impeccable focus, eye-catching athleticism and never-say-die attitude – ingredients which will see him become the new British No 1 on Monday, despite his semi-final defeat by Alexander Zverev.

“It’s going to change things, for sure,” said Fery, who will jump up the rankings to No 36 and take home £900,000 following his remarkable run. “I’m going to be able to play tour events at least for a full year, hopefully for more. It’s going to be interesting to see how I deal with that change and everything that that brings in terms of expectations from myself, from the public, from everyone. I’m already looking forward to that. It’s going to be a challenge to deal with all of that, but I’m conscious of it already and that’s the first step.”

Fery had hardly anticipated his dizzying run – he was supposed to be holidaying in Greece at the sharp end of the tournament – but was forced to cancel the trip. “I was meant to be coming back from holiday today,” he said, smiling. “That’s obviously going to change. I definitely need some time off to process everything that’s happened these past two weeks, [and] have some time off tennis.

“It’s been a good grass season but a long one, mentally challenging. I’m glad that I kept going, kept going in this tournament. Every match was a new challenge. But yeah, I’m going to take some time off now and rest before heading to the US.”

En route to his semi-final Fery lost the first set in each of his first three matches and trailed Grigor Dimitrov by two sets to one in the fourth round. Despite being well beaten by last month’s French Open champion on Friday, he vowed to hold his head high.

“I’m most proud of how I handled the progression of the tournament and how I kept going in every match,” he said. “It would have been easy to let Zizou Bergs [in the third round] run away with his two breaks in the fourth and, as you say, go on holiday and come back.

“I just kept fighting, came back to the match court every time and gave my best. Was mentally locked in. I lacked a bit of that today. It might have been just a step too far. The opponent was a step up again. Yeah, that’s what I was most proud of, never letting go and really pushing myself to the limit.”