Fery explains the image of the day and points to Dzumhur: "He always does the same thing, knows that what he does is wrong"

Carlos Navarro | 30 Jun 2026 | 18.26

Fery put earplugs on to get away from Dzumhur and pointed at him later. Source: Getty

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Wimbledon 2026 has not closed the curtain on the second day yet and already gives us iconic... and even surreal images. There was much talk on social media when seeing the picture of British player Arthur Fery, current No. 114 in the ATP ranking, putting earplugs in the middle of his match against Damir Dzumhur. Yes, you are reading correctly: in the middle of the match... while the Bosnian increased his complaints towards the supervisor, the chair umpire, and apparently, any living being that passed by.

The fiery character of Dzumhur is widely known on the ATP circuit. It is common to see the Bosnian complaining about the chair umpire's decisions or questionable actions from his opponents, getting involved in many controversies. As if it were an adrenaline rush for his tennis, Damir usually appears in these moments... and Arthur's solution was simple and, incredible as it may seem, effective: he started to come back after losing the first set, confused his opponent even more, and ended up being an active part of his final victory in four sets. The incident was there and was already going around the world, but, how does the main character explain it?

Fery explains why he put earplugs in during his match against Dzumhur

All of this originated, of course, due to several lets that Dzumhur protested and that were not called by the chair umpire, Greg Allensworth. The Bosnian pointed out that he is repetitive with his mistakes and even gestured and wanted to talk to the British player in one of them: Arthur indicated that yes, there might have been an uncalled let on one of his serves, but both continued playing the point, and that could not be changed anymore. What was the Bosnian's response? A long and deep stare, saying nothing, at Fery himself, tightening the tension and adding more spice to the match. After voicing his complaints to the supervisor, Fery could not stand it anymore and took the earplugs out of his racket bag to get away from the noise.

"It's something I've been doing for a while. I don't use the earplugs in every match, but in general, they help me, not only with the opponent but also with the stadium noises: they keep me in my mental zone", said Arthur, who apparently is not new to this tactic. It does seem new, however, to do it because of the continuous complaints from his opponent. "I don't remember exactly where it was, but at the beginning of the season, I was in the middle of a match and knew I had the earplugs in my bag. I started to get frustrated by all the noise around me at each changeover and decided to put them on. I found it very useful, and since then, I always keep them in my racket bag in case I want to use them," said the British player.

Dzumhur, singled out for his poor behavior in explosive statements

Beyond the practical explanation, Arthur didn't hesitate to point out the unsportsmanlike conduct of his rival and emphasized that he was prepared for such a confrontation. "It's curious: in a way, everything that happened benefited me. I felt a bit slow, a bit heavy-legged, but that was the spark I needed to ignite, to raise my game. (Damir) wasn't talking about me to the chair umpire, but when someone complains so much during changeovers, between points... it's a start. It didn't affect me much.

Drama out on court 16 between Damir Dzumhur and Arthur Fery. Dzumhur thinks his serve was a let, not called, Fery agrees it was but said he played on. Dzumhur stares him down for a looooong time then says to the umpire: “You are that bad that you cannot hear.” pic.twitter.com/kw40qjIAOz
— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) June 30, 2026

There came a point where I noticed he was running out of physical and mental energy, and that's when he stopped talking. He didn't have the energy to do that either, I suppose. I just wanted to focus on myself and block out all the external noise; that's the best way to deal with these kinds of situations. I just wanted to stay out of it all. We know that Dzumhur is someone who does these things. It's one of the ways he finds to motivate himself, perhaps, I don't know, that's why he starts talking to the opponent. He just kept staring at me. I told him something like to stop looking at me like that, but nothing more. When he does these things, he knows deep down that he's wrong. I just focused on not letting it affect my emotional state, so I could keep playing well", concluded the British player.

Now Fery has a golden opportunity to keep advancing in Wimbledon: he will face Otto Virtanen in the second round, who defeated Ben Shelton and was the protagonist of today's big surprise. It will be a match between two regulars on the Challenger circuit, two players who perform at a very high level on grass... with a golden opportunity ahead to reach the second week of the Grand Slam. However, given the calm personality of the Finn, we fear that Fery will not need to use the earplugs as a lucky charm this time... or maybe he will?

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Fery explica la imagen del día y señala a Dzumhur: "Siempre hace lo mismo, sabe que lo que hace está mal"

Arthur Fery