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Questions are being raised about whether or not Arthur Fery can translate his grass court success to other surfaces ahead of the North American hard court swing.
The Brit began this year ranked 189th in the world but after reaching the quarter-finals of Queen’s and the semi-finals of Wimbledon, he is now inside the top 40.
The 24-year-old did beat Flavio Cobolli in straight sets as a qualifier at this year’s Australian Open but the grand majority of his points have come on the grass this season.
Fery’s Challenger and ITF Tour title success have all come on hard court but it remains to be seen if he can deliver on this surface, now that the stakes have been raised, ahead of the US Open.
And according to tennis content creator Gill Gross, the 5ft 9in player – who will feature at the US Open for the first time after getting his ranking up to 36th in the world – may find it harder going away from grass due to his relative lack of firepower.
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He said on his YouTube channel, “What you will see on grass, as a player whose dominant groundstroke weapon is the backhand, that’s a much easier thing to take to the promised land on grass. Because you get that skid through on the court, it rewards the flatter ball; ultimately it rewards precision and covers up a lack of ball speed and weight of shot.
“If you get on a grittier surface with more friction, that lack of weight on anybody’s two handed backhand, even if you’ve got a big one, it is still not as big as forehands, that lack of weight of shot is punished much more and it’s a lot harder to do productive damage with a backhand when you’re not on grass.
“I think the way he was moving on the surface and his net rushing was incredible, he’s got a bit of an underpowered serve but he was hitting his spots enough. The serve is fine.
“I loved watching him. The real answer is, I look at how comfortable and suitable he was to the grass courts and I am definitely thinking I want to see what he does on hard courts and I am assuming he is going to really struggle on clay. But I expect him to be a player, stay at tour level, and be somebody who continues to be dangerous on grass.”
Fery has delayed his return to the ATP Tour following his Wimbledon heroics. The Brit stated he may not play at the Canadian Masters in August but will feature at Cincinnati and Winston-Salem before heading to Flushing Meadows.
He has very little points to defend so if Fery can pick up a string of victories, there is a chance the right-hander could crack the top 20 this year.
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