Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid issued a live apology on Tuesday after admitting she had never heard of British tennis wildcard Arthur Fery, who stunned Grigor Dimitrov in a five-set thriller to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Reid Admits Ignorance of British Wildcard
Reid, 55, was co-hosting the ITV programme alongside Ed Balls when Ranvir Singh delivered the news of Fery's dramatic victory on Centre Court. The 23-year-old British wildcard came from two sets to one down to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in a final set tiebreak.
After discussing the result with regular commentators Kwasi Kwarteng and the Mirror's Kevin Maguire, Reid turned to the camera and said: "Congratulations Arthur Fery. And he's playing in pretty hot, humid conditions. And I had never heard of him, sorry Arthur!"
Fery's Remarkable Journey
Fery, ranked outside the top 150, became the first British wildcard to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals after a gruelling match that lasted over three hours. Speaking after his win, Fery said: "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."
He added: "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." Fery also acknowledged Roger Federer, who was watching from the Royal Box, saying: "We've got probably the greatest of all time watching from the front row of the Royal Box."
Historic Wildcard Matchup
According to tennis historians, this was the first time in Grand Slam history that two wildcards had met so late in a tournament. Dimitrov, who dropped to 146 in the rankings after a cruel injury at the same stage of Wimbledon last year, was unable to match Fery's resilience.
Former British star Tim Henman praised Fery's performance, calling it "incredible" and noting that Fery was "shaking his head in disbelief about what just happened."
Reaction from GMB Panel
Kevin Maguire highlighted the underdog nature of Fery's victory, saying: "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."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am.
