Alexander Zverev has said he expects the crowd to be "99 per cent" against him when he faces British wildcard Arthur Fery in the Wimbledon semi-finals. The French Open winner, who beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the quarter-finals, insisted that Wimbledon crowds have always been fair to players taking on a home favourite.
Zverev's victory on Court 1 came just moments after Fery stunned Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court, and the roars for the British player could be heard while Zverev was serving for the match. The 29-year-old German said he is relishing the prospect of a hostile atmosphere.
Zverev Embraces Hostile Atmosphere
"I'm very happy to play him in the semi-finals," Zverev said of Fery. "I think it's going to be a great atmosphere. Of course, I know that 99 per cent of the people will be cheering for him. But I also enjoy those kinds of atmospheres. I enjoy when the energy is very high. For me, British crowds, the crowd here at Wimbledon, is always quite fair. They cheer loud, energetic, but they're still fair. I look forward to that challenge."
Zverev has previous experience of facing a British player on Centre Court, having beaten Cam Norrie in straight sets in the third round in 2024. He said he has learned to handle tough crowds over his career.
"I've been on tour for long enough. I feel like I've seen the most hostile crowds, I've seen tough crowds, I've seen unfair crowds as well," he added. "I feel like I should know how to handle it, I've learned how to handle it. I'm okay with it. Again, I always feel like the English crowd here, especially in London, they're always quite fair. Yes, they can be loud, they can be cheerful, but that's okay. I don't mind it at all."
Fritz Reveals Injury Setback
Zverev's quarter-final win over Taylor Fritz was his first victory against the American in two years, having lost to him at Wimbledon in 2024. After the match, Fritz revealed he had been hampered by an injury that struck just a few minutes into the encounter, though he was careful not to detract from Zverev's performance.
"I almost wish I knew before so I could have just prepared to play a match where I was going to be kind of playing through it, 'cause I felt like the whole first set I was, like I said, three games in is when I started feeling it. I was already down a break," the 28-year-old said. "I was just panicking, What am I going to do? I just didn't expect it at all. The only signs I had were I had some pain towards the very end of my [fourth round] match with Bublik. I was already up two sets and a break. I thought maybe not the best sign that I was feeling it after that match, because it wasn't super physical. But typically it's how tendinitis is. He gets irritated sometimes. You give it a little bit of a rest, and then it feels better. I expected, after a light day yesterday, to feel fine today. I felt fine, felt really good in my warm-up actually. Felt like my warm-up was great. Then, yeah, I have no answers as to why three games in it was like that."
Fery's Remarkable Run
Arthur Fery, a British wildcard, has captured the imagination of the Wimbledon crowd with his run to the semi-finals. The 22-year-old's victory over Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals set up the clash with Zverev. Fery has spoken about drawing inspiration from Emma Raducanu's US Open triumph, and he will be aiming to become the first British men's singles champion at Wimbledon since Andy Murray in 2016.
