Arthur Fery hopes channelling inspiration from Goran Ivanisevic can propel him into a stunning Wimbledon final and keep his hopes of emulating the Croatian wildcard alive. Ivanisevic remains the only wildcard to ever win a men’s Grand Slam title after his storied SW19 triumph back in 2001.
Fery Joins Elite Company
Fery, 23, has now joined him as just the second wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals after his brilliant victory against Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court. He will now meet Alexander Zverev, the second seed and French Open champion, bidding to continue his remarkable Fery-tale and follow in Ivanisevic’s famous footsteps.
Fery may not have been born when Ivanisevic, now 54, stunned Pat Rafter in a five-set thriller 25 years ago – but he has delved into the archives ahead of his dream Wimbledon run.
Inspiration from the Past
“I’ve never met him – but I knew beforehand that he was the only wildcard to ever win a Grand Slam,” Fery said. “So it’s obviously an incredible story. I've watched the highlights of the final before. I'm not going to speculate too much or think ahead of what that could be like. I'm just going to keep thinking ahead about my match today, and then we'll see how it goes. Zverev is a step up again – but I'm ready for it. I have nothing to lose. I'm just going to go out there, put my game on the court, do what I've done and believe in myself. We'll see where that takes me.”
National Attention and Royal Encounter
With both Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper withdrawing from this year’s championships through injury, Fery’s remarkable run has improbably gripped the nation over the course of the last week. Talk of renaming Henman Hill or Murray Mound to ‘Arthur’s Seat’ or ‘Fery’s Field’ has been rife around the All England Club as the local Wimbledon resident continues to capture hearts and minds.
Fery even brushed shoulders with royalty before that inspired win against Cobolli – the ninth seed here and recent French Open finalist – as the Queen snuck up behind him to wish him luck ahead of the encounter. Whatever was said clearly worked wonders as Fery, in only his fifth Grand Slam, followed up his thrilling five-set wins against Grigor Dimitrov and Zizou Bergs in much more straightforward fashion. He blew away the world No. 10 in rapid time on Wednesday afternoon, sealing the triumph with an ace to send Centre Court into raptures.
Staying Grounded
Asked if he sensed the national significance of his sensational run, world No. 114 Fery said: “I'm starting to. It’s only going to grow match after match that I win. At the same time, it's good that I don't have two weeks before my next match and they keep coming fast. That’s good in a sense - I'm not looking too much at social media. I’m just staying in my bubble and just carrying on.”
Other Semi-Final: Sinner vs Djokovic
Fery and Zverev will be the precursor to a tantalising showdown between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic in the other semi-final, a battle between the best player on the planet and the 24-time Grand Slam champion. Many believe this Wimbledon to be Djokovic’s best chance of leapfrogging Margaret Court to stand alone at the summit of the list of most Grand Slam titles – but defending champion Sinner looks to be finding form at the perfect time.
While Djokovic, 39, overcame third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in an epic Centre Court clash late on Tuesday night, Sinner, 24, was relaxing after racking up his fourth consecutive straight sets victory several hours before. But Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion also chasing Roger Federer’s record, remains determined to roll back the years.
“It’s been another great, historic run for me at the Grand Slams,” Djokovic said. “I still try to prove to myself and others that I'm able to compete with the best players in the world and beat them in the biggest stage. Hopefully I can do it for few more matches here in London.”
Sinner said: “Every match is different with Novak. Even when I had a small winning streak with him, I felt like every match really had its own story. Especially when you play on a surface like this, if you have a bad serving day or are not feeling the ball very well, it's going to be very, very tough.”
