LONDON (AP) — If he keeps playing like this, Arthur Fery might just become Wimbledon royalty.
Fery grew up five minutes from the All England Club and now the 114th-ranked player is a semifinalist at the grass-court Grand Slam.
The 23-year-old British player, who needed a wild-card invitation to enter the tournament, beat ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0 on Centre Court in front of roaring home fans and a Royal Box contingent that included Britain’s Queen Camilla on Wednesday.
His run has been dubbed a “Ferytale” and has included a viewing by Kate, the Princess of Wales, earlier in the tournament.
“It gets better and better every match,” Fery said in an on-court interview. “I just can’t believe it.”
The only other wild card to have reached the men’s singles semifinals at the All England Club was Goran Ivanisevic in his run to the Wimbledon title in 2001.
Fery earned a standing ovation after winning the first set. The deafening roar that followed Fery taking the tiebreaker to seal the second set was heard over at Wimbledon’s other main stadium — No. 1 Court, where Alexander Zverev was in the process of beating Taylor Fritz in straight sets.
Fery sealed his memorable victory with an ace and fell onto his back to soak in the applause.
“That last game, I felt emotions that I hadn’t experienced before in my life,” he said.
A short time later, Zverev wrapped up his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win to set up a semifinal against Fery on Friday.
Moments before the start of their quarterfinal match, Fery and Cobolli were surprised to meet Camilla in the hallway moments before they walked onto court.
“She came to say hello, she introduced herself to both me and Flavio,” Fery said. “It’s obviously an honor to play in front of her. Great to meet her. She had some really kind words to me at the end, as well. Playing in front of tennis legends and now the queen, so it’s special.”
Roger Federer had been on hand Monday when Fery ousted Grigor Dimitrov in five sets in a fourth-round match that was also on Centre Court.
A champagne cork popped in the crowd late in the first set and distracted Cobolli during his service motion. The locals will surely pop a few more with a British player to support in Friday’s semifinal.
The 24-year-old Cobolli, who lost the French Open final to Zverev, made 41 unforced errors to Fery's 15 and only broke the British player once — to start the second set, but Fery broke back in the fourth game.
“I felt like I didn’t express even 50% of my tennis. But obviously that had a lot to do with him. He was better than me,” said Cobolli, who also lost to Fery in the first round at this year's Australian Open.
Friday’s other semifinal pits seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic against defending champion Jannik Sinner.
Royal encore for Fery
Camilla wasn't the only royal rooting for Fery on Wednesday. Princess Kate congratulated him in a social media post that noted his “fantastic achievement that has inspired so many.”
The French-born Fery, who said he feels “very British,” also exchanged pleasantries with Camilla after his big victory.
“She was waiting for me at the end of the match. She congratulated me. I told her how much of an honor it was for me to play in front of her,” said Fery, who turns 24 on the day of the men's final. “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.”
Zverev ready for Fery crowd
The second-seeded Zverev, who dispatched Fritz in just under two hours, recalled being impressed by Fery's win over Cobolli in Melbourne.
“I watched that match. I was very impressed back then already. He has a very clean technique and very clean groundstrokes,” said the 29-year-old German, who is also into his first Wimbledon semifinal.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” he said of Friday's match. “Of course, I know that 99% of the people will be cheering for him. But I also enjoy those kind of atmospheres. I enjoy when the energy is very high.”
Kostyuk to meet Noskova in semifinals
Earlier Wednesday, Marta Kostyuk beat Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first Wimbledon semifinals.
The 24-year-old Ukrainian also reached the last four at the French Open, losing to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, the eventual champion in Paris.
Kostyuk raised her hands and dropped to her knees after Paolini scuffed a shot on her second match point. After shaking hands with the Italian, Kostyuk did a pirouette on court.
Kostyuk will be back on Centre Court on Thursday to face Linda Noskova for a spot in Saturday’s final. Noskova beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court.
It’s the first career Grand Slam semifinal for the 21-year-old Noskova, who improved to 10-1 on grass this season.
The other women’s semifinal features Coco Gauff against Karolina Muchova, who like Noskova is from the Czech Republic. They’re up first on Centre Court on Thursday.
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