Brit snub: Arthur Fery denied Centre Court means no British singles player will play on main court during opening week for first time ever

Friday, 03 July 2026 at 19:45

Perhaps a damning indictment of the Brit woes at this year's Wimbledon or in fact it is not one of the leading Brits but for the first time ever, no British singles player will play on Centre Court during the first week of Wimbledon as Arthur Fery continues to play on outside courts.

Placing was confirmed for Saturday's schedule which in theory could also include Serena and Venus Williams who have been given special dispensation in a rule break by Wimbledon to not play on Friday likely in a bid to give them a show court.

But one player who hasn't got one is Arthur Fery who is the last Brit standing in the main draw in both men's singles and doubles and has not been given a big court whether Centre or even Court No.1 or No.2. He instead will play on Court 18 which hosts 782 seats.

A crushing blow for the LTA saw over 10 players go out on opening day not to mention the fact that Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper both withdrew late with injuries. Draper due to his big match with Fritz was scheduled on the main court, while Raducanu was due for Court No.1.

Fery shunned

But with both of their leading light players not involved, organisers seemingly have shunned the rest and now Fery is the last man standing, he will not get the same treatment. He will next face Zizou Bergs who won Eastbourne just last week and after seeing off Otto Virtanen, he will play on the exact same court.

The Centre Court schedule perhaps restricts him with Swiatek v Eala, Anisimova v Keys and Berrettini v Dimitrov headlining a strong slate and meaning that others such as Elena Rybakina and Jannik Sinner play on Court No.1. But other games such as Tiafoe v Bublik, Cobolli v Khachanov are on bigger arenas than Fery.

No Centre Court for Fery.

He did think also that he was going to get such a placing and that he hoped to get Centre or Court No.1. But he has received neither. “No idea. I'm not going to speculate. I assume one of those courts, yeah. It will be great to have a lot of people watching and a lot of support," he said.

Centre Court (1:30 PM Start)

Player 1	v	Player 2
Alexandra Eala (PHI) [29]	v	Iga Swiatek (POL) [3]
Amanda Anisimova (USA) [6]	v	Madison Keys (USA) [26]
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)	v	Matteo Berrettini (ITA)

No.1 Court (1:00 PM Start)

Player 1	v	Player 2
Elise Mertens (BEL) [25]	v	Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [2]
Marcos Giron (USA)	v	Alexander Zverev (GER) [2]
Frances Tiafoe (USA) [17]	v	Alexander Bublik (KAZ) [10]

No.2 Court (11:00 AM Start)

Player 1	v	Player 2
Emma Navarro (USA) [23]	v	Marta Kostyuk (UKR) [12]
Karen Khachanov [19]	v	Flavio Cobolli (ITA) [9]
Taylor Fritz (USA) [6]	v	Lorenzo Sonego (ITA)

No.3 Court (11:00 AM Start)

Player 1	v	Player 2
Alex de Minaur (AUS) [5]	v	Zachary Svajda (USA)
Jasmine Paolini (ITA) [13]	v	Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) [17]	v	Linda Noskova (CZE) [9]

Court 12 (11:00 AM Start)

Player 1	v	Player 2
Liudmila Samsonova	v	Marie Bouzkova (CZE) [21]
Jiri Lehecka (CZE) [13]	v	Jaume Munar (ESP)

Court 18 (11:00 AM Start)

Player 1	v	Player 2
Doubles TBA	—	—
Daria Snigur (UKR)	v	Ashlyn Krueger (USA)
Zizou Bergs (BEL)	v	Arthur Fery (GBR)

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

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