Up the levels you go, until the level beats you, the standard becomes what you’re striving for, not where you actually are. Then you charm the crowd with your on-court goodbye, wave to the Royal Box and slide away haunted by what-ifs.
That was the script for the British wildcard Arthur Fery against the No 9 seed Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court. But Fery was a man inspired. Not the plucky underdog of British tennis legend but an all-court nightmare for Cobolli, who joined the list of higher-ranked, better-qualified men Fery has broken at these Championships.
The first male wildcard to reach a Wimbledon semi since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, Fery, 23, will now face the big-serving Alexander Zverev for a place in Sunday’s final.
His astonishing run has brought the Emma Raducanu precedent into view. Raducanu won the 2021 US Open not as a wildcard but a qualifier. Fery comes from even further back – a recipient of one of the hand-outs the All England Club make to low-ranked Brits to keep them visible – to give them a shot in week one.
Fery has minced that charitable gesture to make himself the kind of over-achieving darling of the nation Wimbledon dreams of finding. The last-four are Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner (who play each other), Zverev and… Arthur Fery, the unlikely British star who was ranked 189 at the start of the year and is 114 now.
A Raducanu reprise remains unlikely. Giants stand in the way of a local Wimbledon lad who had never advanced beyond the second-round in a Grand Slam event. But that’s not remotely the headline on what happened here.
It was tempting to think in Fery’s previous big wins over Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov that he had prevailed through sheer court-craft and tenacity. Those two victims looked to have skipped the due diligence on how Fery plays and then failed to match him for focus and courage. Heart conquered height – twice – but the Cobolli quarter-final took Fery into the elite end of the fortnight where the upsets and the upstarts tend to stop.
British tennis is sometimes accused of being too nice. But Arthur Fery isn’t. There’s a welcome ruthlessness – brutality even – about his work. He has the strut of someone who means business – who dares you to take him on – rather than the sliding ease of today’s top six-footers.
“I’ve always believed in myself and believed that I could be a top player in the world,” he said after this win.
Alongside his aggression, it was Fery’s pummelling drives into the corners, his movement around the court, and soft volleys at the net that most disturbed Cobolli.
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Alex Ward, the Lawn Tennis Association National Coach says: “Physically, he’s an unbelievable mover. He’s rapid around the court, and it’s very difficult to get the ball past him. Mentally as well, his self-belief is really strong.”
In a 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 capitulation, Cobolli was stunned by the standard of Fery’s play. It spooked him into confusion, untidiness and finally hopelessness. Not only has Fery carved a route to the semis but a path into the heads of his opponents. None of this was even hinted-at on the menu of pre-Championship possibilities.
Only crowd trouble disturbed his momentum in the first set: the hooliganism being, in true All England Club style, champagne corks popping when the players were mid-serve. “Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy your drinks, but wait until the end of the point,” said the umpire.
The inevitable cry of ‘come on King Arthur’ made its debut as Fery was about to serve for the third set, which he took 6-0. Bergs and Dimitrov were Fery’s only five-set wins at Tour level. But he didn’t need another emotional marathon to get past Cobolli, who was broken in 2hrs 13mins.
Fery had beaten him in their only previous meeting, at this year’s Australian Open in January. “In Australia I was sick. Of course, Arthur is an amazing player, but that match I couldn’t play,” Cobolli said before the rematch. Six months later he needed a new and better excuse.
Fery is only the fifth British male in the Open era to reach a Wimbledon semi-final, after Andy Murray (who reached seven), Tim Henman (four), Roger Taylor (two) and Cameron Norrie (one). Those four were much further on in their careers.
The ‘Last Brit Standing’ is a label that feels almost quaint now. Fery has moved on to become a mainstream contender. Other countries are trying to claim a stake in him. He’s asked a lot about his time at Stanford University and his French heritage (he was born in Paris but moved to Wimbledon as an infant).
But the Wimbledon audience is clinging ever tighter to him. British miracles don’t materialise often here. Fery plays like a lone wolf but has taken to Centre Court after preferring to play an earlier match on Court 18.
“Obviously I have the crowd behind me here, which is a huge help, especially on Centre Court, when I have so many people pushing me,” he said. “I’ve been trying to use the crowd to my advantage in important moments, just to add a little pressure maybe to the opponents. I’ll try and do that again at moments that feel right on Friday.”
In the smallest and most understated mega-pressure arena in world sport, Fery ascends to another of those ‘levels’ that define Wimbledon players. Zverev had better do his research.
Photograph by James Fearn/Getty Images