Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon demolition brings wildcard run into uncharted territory

After twice going the distance, twice coming back from two sets and breaks down, twice winning match tiebreaks having used up much more than just nine lives, Arthur Fery took some pity on the nervous wrecks watching him at Wimbledon. His 6-4 7-6(4) 6-0 demolition of ninth seed Flavio Cobolli was no improbable comeback, no defiant, last-gasp raging against the dying of the light.

This was a clinic; a demonstration of Fery’s powers at their best. A star born under the fierce sunshine on Centre Court. He went toe-to-toe with the recent French Open runner-up in two sets and then dismantled him entirely in the third.

Nobody seemed more surprised than him, as he dropped his racquet and fell on his back, having served out nervelessly with two thunderous aces. In doing so he has become just the second wildcard to reach the semi-finals here; infamously, the only other to do so was 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic.

He had recovered his extraordinary composure and self-belief by the time he spoke to press later, saying contentedly: “I’ve always believed in myself and believed that I could be a top player in the world. Obviously a semi-finalist of Wimbledon is something else. I’ve taken it match by match. I haven’t looked ahead. I’ve just played every match as it is. Yeah, here I am.”

And here to stay, it seems. From 114th in the world he is now up to around 36th in the live rankings; a morose Cobolli said afterwards that when Fery beat him in the Australian Open first round this January, “I felt that his level wasn’t from a guy that he’s outside from top 100. Now I think is close to, I don’t know, 50. 36, even better. I think he deserves it.” Having seen off the ninth seed Fery will feel no fear against second seed Alexander Zverev, his opponent in the last four.

Fery made his approach known early; at 5ft 9in he lacks the aerial advantage of other players but makes up for it with a nonetheless punchy serve, superb all-court coverage, and a deft touch at the net. He alternated powerful forehands with backhand slices, while his agility and movement were key as he scurried around the court like a terrier, retrieving balls from improbable positions. He showed no sign of being intimidated or awestruck by the occasion of a slam quarter-final, returning to Centre with his usual calm swagger.

The pair traded holds, with Fery showing his steel as he fell 0-30 down at 3-3, sprinting onto a Cobolli lob and somehow getting it back in play, leaving the Italian standing with his hands on his hips in exasperation as he shanked into the net. He saved a break point, serve-volleying with expertise and blasting a forehand into the far corner to hold, before holding to love in his next service game.

Fery said: “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 leeway, but a little bit of an edge.”

His chance came as Cobolli appeared put off by a champagne cork popping at 30-30 on his serve, double faulting to raucous applause. His first serve went out, then he hit wide, and Fery received a standing ovation as he skipped back to his chair with a one-set lead.

The generally genteel environs of Centre Court were transformed into a cauldron, the crowd whipped into a frenzy on the hottest day of the tournament so far. At times the whooping and hollering and wolf-whistling was more reminiscent of football ultras – fitting, given Fery’s father is the former owner of a Ligue 1 club – than the Pimms-swigging clientele of SW19.

They were momentarily silenced as Cobolli attacked immediately after the break in sets, lasering a brilliant forehand winner down the line before Fery double faulted for the first time as he was broken to love. But he refused to go away, drawing more errors from Cobolli at 1-2 before firing a stunning backhand winner into the corner to break back.

The Brit continued to dictate in the rallies and Cobolli began to crack, going for broke on second serves as he came under more and more pressure. The second set went to a tiebreak, where Fery’s shot selection – impeccable throughout the contest – proved decisive: he raced to a 6-3 lead as Cobolli continued to leak errors, and while the Italian retrieved one with a beautiful drop shot right at the net post, he had no reply for a lethal slice volley, which he sent long.

Fery headed off court for an extended break, while Cobolli sat on his chair to stew before an unhappy conversation with his box. There was to be no reset for the 24-year-old, who immediately fell a break down.

At times in the third set Fery toyed with the miserable Italian. At 2-0 he dug out a genuinely excellent drop shot by Cobolli and feathered an insouciant one of his own right behind him, landing in by a hair’s breadth and prompting the ninth seed to remonstrate with the umpire.

Clearly rattled, Cobolli pointed to his ear in defiance of the crowd as he saved a break point, but then came unstuck as he backhanded into the net and sent a beautiful Fery drop volley out by a millimetre.

Having been two sets and a double break down against Bergs, this was now unfamiliar territory for Fery, two sets and a double break up. He soon made that a triple break as Cobolli totally unravelled, increasingly tight on his powerful but error-prone forehand side.

Fery held to love to cement his double break as Cobolli deflated, finding no answers. At 4-0 and faced with the threat of falling down a triple break Cobolli launched a risky second serve out wide – but Fery refused to go away, retrieving it, then a drop shot, then sending down a smash which Cobolli shanked into the net.

At 5-0 up and serving for a place in a grand slam semi-final Fery could be forgiven for feeling some nerves. He did not show them, planting a 123mph ace down the T, then – in a point which summed up the match – chasing down a backhand drop volley by Cobolli which just clipped the tape and landed on Fery’s side. The Londoner stumbled as he raced to change direction but just about managed it, dinking it back over the net to set up three match points.

An ace out wide was all that was required. Centre Court leapt to its feet, the chants of “Arthur, Arthur, Arthur” ringing out beyond the grounds. Later, he recalled Emma Raducanu’s breakout run at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2021, saying: “It was impressive how she didn’t let the occasion get to her. She would just keep going match after match, playing well, beating top players, until the title. It’s very tough to do when you’re not used to being on such a big stage. I’ve been trying to do that, as well. Just take it match by match, play my game, put what I do best on court.”

Sounds simple enough. And never beaten, never going away, Arthur Fery storms on.