​By all tangible measures, Arthur Fery should not be in a Wimbledon semi-final. The 23-year-old was given a wildcard into his home Grand Slam, having been ranked 114th in the world before the tournament began. He had never progressed beyond the second round at one of the sport’s majors, and this marked only his fifth Grand Slam appearance. Yet with every remarkable victory, he is rewriting the history books at the All England Club.
“This is one of the best feel-good sports stories of the year,” said Australia’s former Wimbledon doubles champion Todd Woodbridge on BBC TV. “I’m not even British and I’m feeling that emotion! You just don’t want Arthur Fery to wake up because he is playing such extraordinary tennis.” Not since Goran Ivanisevic’s memorable run to the title has a wildcard reached this stage at Wimbledon. The Croat’s triumph 25 years ago remains one of tennis’s most unforgettable moments, and Fery is the lowest-ranked player to reach Wimbledon’s last four since Ivanisevic in 2001. Yet as he continues to captivate a nation on the tournament’s centre stage, close to where he grew up, this Fery-tale run seems to defy precedent.
“The man who grew up so close to Centre Court now seems to own it,” BBC commentator Andrew Cotter remarked. On Wednesday, under scorching afternoon heat, Fery’s Wimbledon campaign reached even greater heights as he dismantled world No. 10 and French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in straight sets. When the crowd erupted in celebration, close to 15,000 supporters began chanting his name as he collapsed to the ground in a slow-motion heap of joy. It was the kind of moment his younger self could only have dreamed of when he would visit Wimbledon to watch matches as a child.
“For someone who, totally unexpectedly, has made it this far, the moment hasn’t seemed to overwhelm him in any matches,” seven-time Grand Slam singles champion John McEnroe observed. “For Cobolli, just to give in that way tells you something about the level he was playing at. This guy’s just got to the French Open final. He went away because of what he was feeling from Fery’s side.” That, McEnroe suggested, is the part that has surprised him the most: the other players appear more wound up and nervous than Fery, even on this day.
Fery’s latest, most impressive victory arrived in a fashion that contrasted starkly with the rest of his journey. He had dropped the opening set in each of his first two matches and then required five-set thrillers with tied-breaks to overcome Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov. In the third round against Bergs, he fought back from a set and a break down twice, including a 4-1 deficit in the fifth set, and even needed three medical timeouts after suffering a nosebleed. Making his first appearance on Centre Court, he exuded an air of defiant resilience that felt both improbable and inevitable in equal measure.