By Aaron Morris
Arthur Fery has caused a stir at Wimbledon with his first-round win over Alexei Popyrin, but his father’s net worth has also got fans talking. The Briton advanced to the second round of the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Popyrin, despite being ranked 461st on the ATP Tour to the Australian’s 20th seed placement. And as a result, he will now face Luciano Darderi on Wednesday as he looks to make a name for himself at his maiden Grand Slam. Reflecting on his win, the 22-year-old said: “It’s probably the most proud day in terms of my tennis career. It’s great, and hopefully I can keep going and stay healthy for the rest of the year.” Beyond tennis, Fery is connected to football through his father, Loic Fery, who owns Ligue 1 club FC Lorient, a competitor of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s OGC Nice. Loic took over Lorient at the age of 35 in 2009, having been influenced by former Sunderland owner Ellis Short, whose son played junior tennis with Arthur. Connections such as Arsene Wenger have also been beneficial for Loic, who now has a net worth of 拢222million. In 2021, Loic spoke about his journey into football club ownership, explaining: “I learned from Ellis, seeing everything that he went through with Sunderland and those misadventures. “His son played some tennis with Arthur so I got to know him. I grew up playing tennis, it was my sport, I was playing regional level competitions until I was 16. “I wasn’t playing to the level of my wife or Arthur but I am competitive in everything I do. I’ve always very much enjoyed playing football as well. “I looked at investing in Sheffield Wednesday and also Leeds United, and got as far as making an on-site visit. But I thought Lorient was better value from the point of developing a business and it has been a good story so far. When I took over the club, it was in a bad financial situation with negative equity, but we have been able to balance the books over the past 11 seasons,” reports the Express . Arthur’s mother, Olivia, herself a distinguished tennis player, clinched two singles titles during her career and retired boasting a record of 33-25 in the discipline. Ratcliffe has recently been in the spotlight for his involvement with Manchester United , aiming to bring the club back to its heyday in the coming years. Meanwhile, the INEOS boss is the proprietor of Nice, who secured a fourth-place finish in Ligue 1 last term. Yet he put the club on the market in May, asking over 拢200m in a surprising turn of events. Considering Ratcliffe’s comments from March, it seems the 72-year-old may have lost his enthusiasm for watching the French club’s matches. Despite INEOS insisting they are not neglecting Nice in favour of United, billionaire Ratcliffe, with an estimated fortune of 拢12.5billion, told The Times : “I don’t particularly enjoy going to watch Nice because there are some good players, but the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited.”