Wildcard wonder Arthur Fery has continued his astonishing run at Wimbledon, keeping alive hopes of a shock English win with another stunning performance in London on Wednesday.
Assessed as a 400-1 bolter preceding the tournament, the local boy continued his fairytale run in his home suburb of Wimbledon to book a spot among the giants of the sport when too good for Italian Flavio Cobolli.
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The All England Club was still buzzing from the heroics of Novak Djokovic, who pulled off a thriller over Felix Auger Aliassime to keep alive his hopes of winning a 25th major, on a stifling Wednesday when wildcard Arthur Fery took centre stage.
On a stifling day in London, the 23-year-old raised the spirits of those sizzling in the sun when outpointing the world No.10 6-4 7-6 (4) 6-0 in 2hr 14min in an inspired performance to book a semi-final spot against 2nd seed Alexander Zverev.
The son of head fund scion Loic Fery, the right-hander is the first English wildcard to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the only other wildcard outside of 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic to reach the last four after being invited to compete.
“(I’ve) never met him (but) I knew beforehand that he was the only wildcard to ever win a grand slam. I mean, it’s obviously an incredible story. I’ve watched the highlights of the final before,” he said.
“I’m not going to speculate too much or think ahead of what that could be like. I’m just going to keep thinking ahead about my match on Friday, and then we’ll see how it goes.”
While Wimbledon has been overshadowed by the World Cup, the presence of a hometown hero alongside legend Novak Djokovic, defending champion Jannik Sinner and recent Roland Garros winner Alexander Zverev sets up a stunning weekend.
When reaching the quarterfinals a couple of days ago, Fery said he would never have believed he would have the honour of playing in front of Roger Federer, who was watching from the Royal Box. But on Wednesday, that feat was arguably topped.
Cheering Fery on as he ousted Cobolli, the recent Roland Garros finalist who defeated Alex de Minaur on Monday, was the Queen as he produced a blazing finish against the Italian after a tight opening two sets.
“We were getting ready to come on and she came to say hello, she introduced herself to both me and Flavio,” he said.
“It’s obviously an honour to play in front of her (and it is) great to meet her. She had some really kind words to me at the end as well. So, yeah, playing in front of tennis legends and now the Queen, it’s special.”
The scoreline was remarkably similar to their only prior encounter at the Australian Open earlier this year in a match claimed by Fery, but that was considered an upset as well with reports Cobolli was suffering from an illness.
But lightning has struck twice, with Cobolli now posting two losses to a player ranked outside the top 100, and both of them are against Fery, a former junior rival.
“I felt, as I said on court, not comfortable but a bit more confident in playing someone that I’d played before on a big stage,” he said.
“Even throughout the match I felt like it was very, very close. At times he was serving really well. But I felt like I had always a little bit, not of leeway, but a little bit of an edge. (I) managed to get through the second, which was huge, and then got through the third.”
Fery was born in Paris but his family moved to Wimbledon when he was two years old, and the talented right-hander was a regular in the stands watching his heroes including Federer while growing up in the south-west of London.
His dad owned FC Lorient in France until recently and still holds the presidency of the club, but Fery’s talents shone in tennis where, after showing promise as a teenager, he earned a scholarship to Stanford University in the United States.
“I have ties to France. My family, my parents, cousins, family friends, friends (and) also a lot of support from there,” he said.
“(But) obviously I play for Great Britain. Being here in London, I really feel the support of the British public more.”
Preceding Wimbledon, the wildcard had earned A$1.25 million in his career. He has guaranteed a purse of A$1.7 million for reaching the semi-finals and will jump to a ranking inside the top 40 from his current slot of 114.
Zverev, meanwhile, had lost his last seven outings against Taylor Fritz but has carried the form that saw him claim a maiden major title at Roland Garros in his 41st appearance in a grand slam with another strong run in London.
The angular German was always in control against his American rival, a former US Open finalist but a player currently hindered by knee troubles, when successful 6-4 6-4 6-2 as he seeks to complete the Channel Double this summer.
The keys to his first appearance in a semi-final at Wimbledon are twofold. The confidence from winning a major is part of it, he said, but so too a tactical change to his game he made a couple of years ago when trying to master grass.
“I think winning Roland Garros definitely helps for sure. There’s no question about it,” he said.
“But … I changed my game a bit for grass. It’s working quite well this year. I spoke about it the previous matches. My return position, my position generally on court, has changed. I tried it the last couple of years, but I never felt comfortable doing it. This year feels a bit different. Of course, I’m very pleased and very happy about that.”