An "underdog" sensation is sweeping Britain's Wimbledon tennis championships. The protagonist is Arthur Fery (24, Britain), the home player ranked No. 114 in the world. Entering the tournament as a wildcard due to his low ranking, he has reached the semifinals, electrifying home fans.
Fery defeated Flavio Cobolli (No. 10, Italy) 3-0 (6-4, 7-6, 6-0) in the men's singles quarterfinal held at the All England Club in London on the 8th, in 2 hours and 14 minutes.
Having gone to four sets in the first and second rounds of the main draw, and to five sets in the third round and round of 16, Fery played with relative ease against Cobolli, this year's French Open runner-up, in the quarterfinal.
With this victory, Fery set a rare record as the first wildcard entrant in 25 years to reach a men's singles semifinal at a major tournament. Since professional players were permitted to compete in majors in 1968, only four men have reached the semifinals as wildcard entrants in the Open era: Jimmy Connors (1991 US Open), Henri Leconte (1992 French Open), Goran Ivanisevic (2001 Wimbledon), and Fery. Among them, Ivanisevic went all the way to the title. In addition, with his quarterfinal win, Fery has risen to a career-high world ranking of No. 36 and secured direct entry into the main draws of major upcoming tournaments.
Above all, the enthusiastic support of home fans has become a powerful weapon. As a child, Fery lived just five minutes from Wimbledon's All England Club. On this day, whenever he won a crucial point, thunderous applause and cheers poured out toward Fery from some 15,000 home fans. Queen Camilla of Britain also visited the venue, offered Fery words of encouragement, and enjoyed the victory from the stands.
"During the last game, I experienced an emotion I have never felt in my life," Fery said. "Here, the crowd is on my side, and that is becoming a tremendous strength." An unknown who had won only twice in major main draws before this tournament has thus emerged as the hope of all of Britain.
The BBC reported that "corks were flying around the venue as people opened champagne until the 3-0 victory was sealed," adding that "people would have gone out for a drink after the match to celebrate the best day at this old shrine in the 10 years since Andy Murray's (Britain) second Wimbledon title."
Fery's father is Loïc Fery, an asset management firm CEO who served as owner of French Ligue 1 football club FC Lorient. His mother is a former French national team tennis player. Born near Paris, France, he grew up in Wimbledon and attended Stanford University in the United States.
The player Fery will face in the semifinal is world No. 3 Alexander Zverev (Germany), this year's French Open champion. The 12th, when the final is scheduled, happens to be Fery's birthday.
Zverev reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time by defeating Taylor Fritz (No. 7, US) 3-0 (6-4, 6-4, 6-2). He became the third German men's player in the Open era to reach the semifinals of all four majors. The other semifinal matchup features Jannik Sinner (No. 1, Italy) and Novak Djokovic (No. 8, Serbia).
