Susanna Reid issued a live on-air apology to British tennis wildcard Arthur Fery on Good Morning Britain, admitting she had never heard of him before his remarkable Wimbledon quarter-final run. The 55-year-old presenter returned to the ITV studios on Tuesday (July 7) alongside co-host Ed Balls.
Ranvir Singh Announces Fery's Victory
During the programme, Ranvir Singh delivered an exciting announcement from Wimbledon: Arthur Fery became the first British wildcard to reach the quarter-finals after a thrilling five-set victory over Grigor Dimitrov. Ranvir said: "The British tennis player Arthur Fery has made it into the Wimbledon quarter finals after he won a wonderful five-set match on Centre Court against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov."
Susanna and Ed discussed the achievement with regular contributors Kwasi Kwarteng and the Mirror's Kevin Maguire. Susanna then offered an apology to the British contender, reported the Mirror.
Susanna's Apology and Praise
She said: "Let's celebrate an incredible sporting achievement. British wildcard Arthur Fery emerging victorious following an enthralling five-set thriller yesterday with Grigor Dimitrov to make it to the Wimbledon quarter finals. He is 23 years old and is now carrying the British hopes in the tournament. So, the result on Centre Court in this showdown yesterday, he came down from two sets to one to win a final set tiebreak. So, it went 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, and then 6-7."
Susanna continued: "Congratulations Arthur Fery. And he's playing in pretty hot, humid conditions," before offering her apology: "And I had never heard of him, sorry Arthur!"
Kevin Maguire added: "I know, because he's so low ranked. This is the fantastic sporting story. It's somebody [with] little chance achieving incredible success, while [Donald] Trump and the [World Cup] red card is the very worst of sport."
Tim Henman's Praise and Fery's Reaction
Susanna disclosed that Arthur received praise from former British tennis player Tim Henman, who remarked: "An incredible performance. He's shaking his head in disbelief about what just happened."
Following his Centre Court victory, Arthur commented: "I've no words right now. It's incredibly tough to put words to what I've just felt on a tennis court in front of all you guys. The support was phenomenal. First time on this court, five sets against an absolute legend of the game. I grew up five minutes from here, I grew up coming to watch matches on this court."
Addressing Roger Federer, who was seated in the Royal Box, Arthur said: "We've got probably the greatest of all time watching from the front row of the Royal Box. Now playing here in front of all you guys and winning, it's unbelievable."
Historic Wild Card Achievement
This marked the first occasion in grand slam history where two wild card entries had progressed to such an advanced stage of a tournament, after Dimitrov's ranking plummeted to 146 following a devastating injury at the same stage of last year's Wimbledon Championships.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am.
