Arthur Fery: British wildcard roars into Wimbledon quarter-finals as a new star is born

Even on Centre Court and the hallowed grass where silence is usually preserved, Arthur Fery refused to go down quietly. The last British hope left standing in the singles and Wimbledon local was not done with his fairytale, kicking and screaming in defiance to win a five-set thriller against fellow wildcard Grigor Dimitrov. Roger Federer looked down from the front row of the Royal Box and grinned in approval at Fery’s fight and at the arrival of a new home hope. The days of five-set epics involving a roaring, snarling Brit are not over following Andy Murray’s retirement, after all.

Instead, the 23-year-old Fery once again scrapped from the brink, battling from a break down in the fourth and prevailing in a match tiebreak to end the resurgence of Dimitrov, the former world No 3, winning 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (10-7) in three hours and 55 minutes. It has already been life-changing for the local lad, born to French parents but who grew up five minutes down the road from the gates of the All England Club; the late bloomer who stayed in school and studied at Stanford, patiently waiting for his moment. As the light faded on Centre Court, at 8:21pm on Monday evening, Fery, ranked 114th in the world before the fortnight, gloriously burst through and seized it.

“Where to start,” he said. “I’ve no words right now. I’ll do my best, but it’s incredibly tough to put words to what I’ve just felt on a tennis court, in front of you guys. The support was phenomenal. “I’m not going to swear, that would be a problem, but first time on this court, five sets against an absolute legend of the game… I grew up five minutes from here, I grew up coming to watch matches on this court, we’ve got probably the greatest of all time watching on. Now playing in front of all you guys, and winning, it’s unbelievable.”

For Fery, the biggest match of his life brought a drastic change in surroundings. He could not avoid staying on the intimate bearpit of Court 18 any longer after back-to-back wins over Otto Virtanen and Zizou Bergs. As Fery stood next to Dimitrov beneath the stairs on Centre Court and waited to walk out onto the most famous tennis arena in the world, he could have glanced left and noticed the names of Federer and Murray on the winners’ board. He was bidding to emulate Murray by becoming just the sixth British player to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in the open era. He ended up playing in front of Federer, as the eight-time champion looked down from the front row of the Royal Box in an immaculate blazer.

Fery drew applause and a grin from Federer as he lunged to his left and steered a backhand winner down the line; there is a lot to like about Fery’s game, and the way he, at 5ft 9in, overcomes a lack of height by counter-punching from the baseline and rushing into the net, where his brave approaches were often followed by clever touches and soft volleys. The first two sets came down to a couple of games. Fery stole the first despite Dimitrov winning his first 16 points behind serve, then Dimitrov capitalised on the only break in the second following a loose game from Fery. There was not a lot to separate a fourth-round match involving two wildcards, the first time that had happened in the tournament’s history.

Fery left Centre Court after the second set, leaving Dimitrov pacing around the baseline, and the Bulgarian jumped on Fery to break at the start of the third. It was a costly dip from Fery, who opened the door to Dimitrov with a short backhand into the net, as the 35-year-old sliced and diced from the baseline to move into the net and put Fery away. Fery had an immediate chance to break back but Dimitrov, confidence growing and cutting out the errors on his one-handed backhand, seemed to be starting to pick holes in Fery’s game. Dimitrov, now bringing out some gorgeous shots, including a flicked backhand winner, closed it out and moved a set away.

Fery didn’t blink. He had been two sets to one down in his third-round epic against the world No 37 Bergs, fighting from a double-break down in the fourth and a break down in the fifth. Once again, Fery wiped his brow and got to work. He twice recovered a break, defying Dimitrov as he closed in on the finish line. Suddenly, Dimitrov looked nervous again. He double-faulted to help Fery towards the break, closed out by the Brit behind a cushioned volley and a creeping error count from Dimitrov. In a flash, Fery had won 11 points in a row and Dimitrov was serving to stay in the set. As Fery was given an opening on set point, he roared a screaming backhand winner to force the fifth.

The momentum carried with Fery. He survived consecutive service games from 15-30, whirring around the court as if playing on fresh legs, sowing a seed of doubt into the mind of Dimitrov. At 4-3, 30-15 Fery cried out after chasing a ball from Dimitrov and suddenly stopping to stretch out his leg as if he had been hit by cramp. Yet he won the next point, whipping his arms and asking for more from Centre Court. It took two courageous forehands from DImitrov to tie him down, flirting with the lines. After another spirited hold from 15-30 down, cooly dispatching a lunging volley, Fery beckoned the crowd for more and stood two points away from victory on the Dimitrov serve. Dimitrov denied him behind two further forehand blows.

In the tiebreak, Fery’s serve came alive. He bellowed as he pinned Dimitrov to his one-handed backhand. Dimitrov led 5-4 but as Centre Court appeared to shake, the 35-year-old double faulted. Fery didn’t look back. He fired another ace. Dimitrov, bidding to maintain his own remarkable run, finally buckled. Fery had fallen to his back after beating Bergs to reach his first grand slam fourth round, a result that saw him enter the world’s top 100 for the first time. This time, after Dimitrov put a second-serve return into the net, Fery looked up to his box in disbelief. And yet, this Wimbledon fairytale is not done yet