'He does that with everyone' - Brit Arthur Fery rounds on Damir Dzumhur after winning fiery Wimbledon clash with help of ear plugs
Published 30/06/2026 at 20:33 GMT+1
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A fiery clash between Arthur Fery and Damir Dzumhur saw the Briton don a pair of ear plugs at Wimbledon - and he expressed his displeasure at his opponent's on-court antics after their first-round match.
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Amid a difficult tournament so far for the Brits, Fery was one of the few success stories of the first couple of days, making it into the second round with a win over his Bosnia adversary.
But it didn't come in calm circumstances, with Dzumhur contesting a let call, complaining lengthily to the umpire, and then remonstrating with Fery, even as they came together at the end of the encounter.
Dzumhur was a set and a break to the good before he lost his cool, and the match, only winning three games in the rest of the encounter across the remaining three sets.
Speaking to the umpire Greg Allensworth about the disputed let call, he said: "Did you see the let? Did you hear the let?
"So you are that bad that you cannot hear, and everybody heard? I am saying you are bad. You made the mistake. He [Fery] stopped."
The chaos continued thereafter, with the match supervisor called, and Dzumhur voicing his frustration, but Fery - in his post-match press conference - said the antics from his opponent didn't come as a surprise.
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"I mean, it was expected, to be honest. He does that with everyone," Fery said.
"I guess I was just ready for it before the match. If it's a let, it's a let for everyone, right, it's not just a let for him.
"Whether the point carries on or not, it's the same for both of us. He obviously wants to make a problem with the ref, with the umpire, and then is trying to speak to me about it.
"But, I mean, there is nothing to really speak about. Just trying to get the other player involved for no reason."
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Fery added: "I was trying to stay out of it, to be honest. And then again, we know with Dzumhur that he does that. It's one of his ways of maybe getting himself fired up or, yeah, I don't know, speaking to the other player.
"He was just staring at me. I said, 'well, stop staring at me', something along those lines. Nothing more.
"He knows he's in the wrong when he does these things. I think deep down he knows he's in the wrong.
"[I was] just trying to make sure that it doesn't affect my emotional state. Yeah, just keep going with my match.
"It probably benefited me in a certain way, because I was a bit slow, a bit heavy on my legs, and so that got the spark ignited in me."
Fery's decision to put in his ear plugs while Dzumhur was complaining garnered much attention, especially on social media, but it wasn't an altogether new thing.
"I have been doing it for a while now,' he said.
"I don't use them every match. It helps me, as well. Not just for the opponent, but just in general for the crowd, and keeps me in my zone."
He added: "I always carry an eye mask and ear plugs in case I have a nap during the day, or it rains, and I'm stuck at the club.
"I can't remember where exactly, but at the start of this year I was in a match, and I knew they were in my bag. And I was frustrated with the noise around me at change of ends, so I just put them in.
"From then on, I just kept them in my bag and use them from time to time. I find it helpful."
Fery got support from fellow Brit Jacob Fearnley for his decision to deploy some noise protection.
"I have played Dzumhur a couple of times, and I know what he's capable of," Fearnley, who himself made it into the second round with a good win over Alex Michelsen, said.
"It's actually a good idea. Wish I'd thought of it the last couple of times I played him.
"But no, I have never heard of that before. I have heard of people covering their ears, but never heard of physical ear plugs.
"He must have thought of that before, because it's not really a normal thing to have in your bag. Good effort."
Fery takes on Otto Virtanan in the second round, after the Finn shocked Ben Shelton.
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