ARTHUR FERY's run at Wimbledon continued on Wednesday as the British wildcard reached the semi-finals with a straight-sets win over Italian ninth seed Flavio Cobolli, setting up a last-four meeting with French Open champion and second seed Alexander Zverev.
The 23-year-old, ranked 114th in the world, beat Cobolli 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-0 on Centre Court to become only the fourth male wildcard to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and only the fifth British man in the Open era to make the last four at Wimbledon. The victory also means Fery will leave the tournament ranked at least world number 36 after returning from a bone stress injury that left him outside the top 500 just 18 months ago.
If Fery beats Zverev on Friday, he will play Sunday's Wimbledon final on his 24th birthday. He would also become the first wildcard since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001 to reach the Wimbledon final, with a chance to emulate the Croat by winning the title.
Fery, who grew up within walking distance of the All England Club after moving from France to London as a child, has become Britain's standard bearer after 15 of the nation's 19 singles players were knocked out in the opening round.
"I've always believed in myself and believed that I could be a top player in the world," Fery told reporters.
"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."
Fery was watched by Queen Camilla from the Royal Box during his quarter-final victory and met her afterwards.
"The queen was waiting for me at the end of the match. She congratulated me. I told her how much of an honour it was for me to play in front of her," Fery said.
"Great to meet her. She had some really kind words to me at the end. She just said, 'Congratulations, keep going'.
"I told her it was my birthday on Sunday, so it would be great to play the Wimbledon final on my birthday."
Fery has also enjoyed support from eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, who watched his five-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16.
Despite the attention surrounding his run, Fery said he is staying focused.
"It's good that I don't have two weeks before my next match. They keep coming fast. So that's good," he said. "Just staying in my bubble and just carrying on."
He admitted he felt pressure before facing Cobolli.
"I was nervous, because I really felt like, although I was in the quarter-final for the first time of a Slam, I felt like I could really beat my opponent," he said.
Fery delayed turning professional, choosing to study science, technology and society at Stanford University, where he became the top-ranked college player in the United States.
Born in Sevres near Roland Garros, Fery briefly represented France as a junior. His father, Loic, owns French football club Lorient, while his mother Olivia was a professional tennis player. But after growing up in London, attending King's College Wimbledon and coming through the British tennis system, he now considers Britain home.
"I've lived here a long time. Maybe 10 years ago, you asked me that question, I probably would say I felt more French than English. Now it's not the case at all," Fery said of his heritage.
"I feel very British. I live here. All my best friends live here. I went to school here. I train here.
"Obviously my parents are still French, so we speak French with my family and cousins who still live in France. But my roots are very much tied to London now."
Looking ahead to his meeting with Zverev, Fery said: "It's obviously an incredible story. I've watched the highlights of the Ivanisevic final before.
"I'm just going to keep thinking about my match on Friday, and then we'll see how it goes."
He added: "Zverev is a step up again. I'm ready for it. I have nothing to lose.
"I'm just going to go out there and put my game on the court, do what I've done, believe in myself. We'll see where that takes me."
Zverev reached his first Wimbledon semi-final with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over Taylor Fritz, ending a run of seven consecutive defeats against the American.
"I think winning Roland Garros definitely helps for sure. There's no question about it," Zverev said after securing his first win over Fritz in eight meetings.
"I changed my game a bit for grass (and) it's working quite well ... this year feels a bit different. Of course, I'm pleased about that."
Fritz revealed tendonitis in his right knee flared up early in the match.
"I don't want to take away from how well he's playing," said Fritz. "I'm not saying the result would have been any different. He was playing aggressive, doing a lot of things that, I'd say, are big improvements to his game.
"It would have been an incredibly tough match. I'm really sad I didn't get the chance to get into it, I guess. I felt like just because I was thinking about the knee, my focus was all over the place."
In the women's draw, 12th seed Marta Kostyuk reached her first Wimbledon semi-final with a 6-3, 6-2 win over 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini.
After the match, Kostyuk again criticised the possible inclusion of Russian athletes at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, calling it a "terrible" move.
She will play Czech Linda Noskova, who beat Belgium's Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-5 to reach the last four.
"It's always been a fact that as such a small country, we can definitely do big things in the world if we look up to the people that did it," Noskova said.
"Czech tennis female players have always been incredible. If you look at 10 years back, 20, 30, there's always been someone."
