Arthur Fery has etched his name into Wimbledon history this afternoon, becoming the first British wildcard ever to secure a place in the semi-finals at the All England Club.
The 23-year-old dispatched ninth seed Flavio Cobolli in commanding fashion on Centre Court, delighting a fervent home crowd with his remarkable achievement.
Ranked 114th in the world, Fery now holds the distinction of being the lowest-ranked male player to reach the last four at a Grand Slam in a quarter of a century.
The last man to accomplish such a feat at a lower ranking was Nick Kyrgios back in 2014.
Arthur Fery has made history after winning his quarter-final clash against Flavio Cobolli
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Fery’s straight-sets victory finished 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-0, representing the most significant triumph of his career to date.
Prior to arriving at SW19, the Briton had reached just one Tour-level quarter-final in his professional career.
His path to the last four included two gruelling five-set battles in earlier rounds, making Wednesday’s clinical performance all the more impressive.
Cobolli found himself undone by a combination of unforced errors and Fery’s intelligent court craft.
The British player deployed his slice to excellent effect, neutralising the Italian’s powerful game.
Arthur Fery now faces second seed Alexander Zverev – with Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic making up the final four
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This marked Fery’s second victory over Cobolli in their last three Grand Slam meetings, having also beaten him at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Speaking after his historic victory, Fery struggled to contain his emotions when reflecting on the final game.
“That last game I felt emotions that I haven’t felt before in my life,” he said. “It’s unbelievable to share it with those guys,” he added, gesturing towards his support team.
The young Briton spoke of how his earlier triumph over Cobolli had provided crucial self-belief heading into Wednesday’s encounter.
“I played Flavio earlier this year and beat him in Australia so I knew I could do it. It gave me a boost of confidence, kept going, very nervous beforehand but kept going until the finish line.”
Fery will now face German Alexander Zverev in Friday’s semi-final, with the French Open champion having progressed comfortably past American Taylor Fritz in straight sets.
Arthur Fery comfortably breezed past Flavio Cobolli in an almighty shock
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The Briton becomes the first wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals since Goran Ivanisevic achieved the feat in 2001, going on to lift the trophy that year.
When asked whether he might emulate the Croatian’s remarkable achievement, Fery remained characteristically modest.
“I don’t know, I’ve never been in this position before. I’ve been doing a great job over the past 10 days, so I’ll see where that takes me.”
