On a sun-drenched Centre Court, 23-year-old Arthur Fery dropped to his knees as 15,000 home fans chanted his name — a sound he says he'll never forget. The British wildcard, who had never gone past the second round at any major tournament before this week, stunned the tennis world on Tuesday by defeating world number 10 Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Fery is the first British men's wildcard to reach this stage at Wimbledon in 25 years. The only other wildcard to ever make the semi-finals here was Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic — and he went on to win the whole thing. Fery is also the lowest-ranked player to reach the last four at the All England Club since Ivanisevic did it as a wildcard in 2001.
Even more remarkable is how far Fery has climbed in such a short time. Just 18 months ago, he was ranked outside the world's top 500 after battling a bone stress injury in his arm. He didn't break into the top 200 until October. Now, whatever happens in his Friday semi-final against French Open champion Alexander Zverev, Fery will leave Wimbledon as the new British number one — and is guaranteed to rise to 36th in the world rankings.
His latest victory was a statement performance against Italy's Cobolli, the ninth seed and French Open runner-up this year. Fery's composure never wavered, even when he admitted feeling nervous before walking onto the court. He was serving for the match at 5-0 in the third set when Cobolli finally held serve — but by then, the outcome was never in doubt.
The win also changed Fery's life off the court. The £900,000 prize money he's earned this fortnight more than doubles his entire career earnings to date, which had been around £650,000. For a player who grew up just a short walk from Centre Court, this has been a fairy tale week — and the story isn't over yet.