​Alexander Zverev is determined to end the British Wimbledon fairy tale as he faces home favorite Arthur Fery for a spot in the final at the All England Club. Fery has whipped the crowd into a frenzy by reaching the semi-finals as a wild card, and turning 24 on Sunday would make his week even sweeter.
Winning has given him confidence, but the immediate task is Friday’s semi-final against Zverev, who is riding a surge of form and belief after finally capturing his first Grand Slam title at the French Open a few weeks earlier and is now enjoying what he regards as the best Wimbledon of his career. Zverev will feel even more assured after a straight-sets victory over Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals, a result that avenged seven prior losses to the American, beginning with a fourth-round Wimbledon clash in 2024.
Zverev has managed the pressure well in Paris, where he was installed as a favorite following the early exits of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, who meet in the other semi on Friday. He believes he can handle Fery, the raucous crowd, and keep his bid to become Germany’s first men’s Wimbledon champion since Michael Stich in 1991 on track.
“It’s obviously a big match. It’s about reaching the final. But I’ve learned that, in the end, a tennis match is simply a tennis match,” Zverev said. “No one is going to die. People’s lives won’t change dramatically. We’ll go on. I will try to play my best tennis. That’s all there is to it.”
A year after a difficult end to the previous Wimbledon, when he exited in the first round and spoke openly about mental struggles, Zverev feels he is well equipped to handle whatever comes his way.
“Winning Roland Garros definitely helps, for sure. There’s no question about it,” he said. “But I think I’ve changed my game a bit for grass. It’s working quite well this year. I’ve talked about it in the previous matches. My return position, my overall court positioning, has changed. I’ve tried it over 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 happy about that.”
Zverev also praised Fery, noting that a win on Friday would move him into the world’s top 40 even if Carlos Alcaraz remains sidelined with an injury. “The first time I watched him play was actually in Australia. He beat Flavio Cobolli in the first round. I watched that match and was very impressed even back then,” he said. “He has a very clean technique and clean groundstrokes. I thought he was a very good tennis player already then. It’s perhaps a surprise, maybe, that he’s in the semi-finals, but I think he deserves it. The wins he’s recorded and the way he fought back in several matches are great to see. It’s a wonderful story.”
Fery, a Stanford graduate who was born in France but grew up in London, is ready for the challenge. He arrives at this juncture with momentum and confidence, and the chance to crown his meteoric Wimbledon run with a place in the final.