British wildcard Arthur Fery's stunning run to the Wimbledon semifinals has put his career into uncharted territory.
Fery, who will turn 24 on Sunday, was beaten by second seed Alexander Zverev in straight sets on Centre Court, ending a fairytale run.
He had become just the second wildcard to make the semis of a major in the Open era, shooting dramatically up the world rankings as a result.
Fery arrived at the tournament ranked 114th in the world, having never got past the second round of a grand slam before. He will have risen to 36th in the rankings by Monday, as well as being the British number one for the first time.
The fortnight at the All England Club also had a big impact on his finances - it more than doubled Fery's career earnings so far. He had made £647,450 ($867,000) before the tournament had started, but his run to the semifinals saw him take home £900,000 ($1.2 million) in prize money.
The man who denied him a place in the final, Alexander Zverev, thinks it is just the start for Fery.
"An unbelievable player," the German said after their match. "I think he's going to be a senior citizen on tour! He will play on it for 15-plus years. This is just the beginning for him."
The leap up the rankings will give him an opportunity to mix with tennis' big names more often going forward.
Instead of having to fight his way through qualifying or relying on wild cards, he will now earn direct entry into virtually every ATP Tour event, including the Masters 1000 tournaments and all four Grand Slams. That not only guarantees him a place in the biggest events, but also allows him to plan his season months in advance, rather than waiting to discover whether he has made a draw.
"It's going to change things, for sure," Fery said on Friday. "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 important it is to see how I deal with that change and everything that that brings in terms of expectations from myself, from the public, from everyone.
"So yeah, 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."
The immediate reward is a place in the North American hard-court swing, where Fery expects to make his first appearances as a full-time tour player ahead of the U.S. Open.
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"I'm going to go to the U.S. and play," Fery said. "I was signed up for Montreal 1000, which I don't know if I'll play yet. It's undecided. Then, yeah, planning on playing Cincinnati [another 1000 event] and Winston-Salem, my first main draw at the US Open.
"With regards to tournaments I haven't played yet that I would love to play, I'm looking forward to playing in Asia. It's going to be great. I don't know which exact events I'll play. Definitely Shanghai Masters. Before that, Tokyo, Beijing."
Just a fortnight ago, Fery arrived at Wimbledon uncertain where his next opportunity would come from. Instead, he leaves with £900,000 in prize money, a career-high ranking, British No. 1 status and a place among the sport's established tour professionals.
The next chapter begins in North America, where, for the first time, he will travel knowing he belongs in the main draw alongside the game's biggest names.
