Four games into his first grand slam semi-final, 23-year-old wildcard Arthur Fery produced the sort of moment of magic for which he has rapidly become famous. Having had his serve broken by Alexander Zverev, the Brit responded with ferocity, playing a superb backhand return before racing to a Zverev drop shot, replying with a stunning angled passing shot that flashed across the net, and which the German could only scoop up and wide.
Fery leapt for joy and punched the air to a huge round of applause. Zverev hit long in the next rally to concede the break and send the Centre Court crowd leaping to their feet in raptures, too. It was the kind of moment that summed up the Brit's tournament: opportunity created out of nothing, his on-court intelligence putting him one or two steps ahead, and helping him wrestle himself back into contention.
Ultimately, it was not enough: Zverev dominated the first set tie-break and played with an authority that has not always come naturally, the world No 3 winning 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 to reach his first Wimbledon final. Having previously never gone past the fourth round here, the French Open champion is in ominous form, saying: "Once you win a major, you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again. You have this feeling inside of you."
Faced with that, Fery said later he did not feel quite as "at ease" as in his previous rounds, and he was unfortunate to run into Zverev at his very best, his forehand piercing and serve precise and powerful. "He was always putting constant pressure. I didn't get much rhythm, just not many rallies," he said. "Balls coming back a little bit faster than the other days and what I'm used to, not as sharp with my footwork and mentally. Against a player like that, it adds up pretty quick."
But Fery's fortnight has been astonishing on every level. Having only previously won two grand slam matches, he won five in a row to reach the last four, twice coming from two sets and breaks down, seeing off former Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov and recent French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in his last two matches. As the world No 114, he was something of an odd one out in that final four, alongside the current world No 1, the sport's most recent major winner, and a man with a casual 24 major ******* les to his name.
Fery leapt for joy and punched the air to a huge round of applause. Zverev hit long in the next rally to concede the break and send the Centre Court crowd leaping to their feet in raptures, too. It was the kind of moment that summed up the Brit's tournament: opportunity created out of nothing, his on-court intelligence putting him one or two steps ahead, and helping him wrestle himself back into contention.
Ultimately, it was not enough: Zverev dominated the first set tie-break and played with an authority that has not always come naturally, the world No 3 winning 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 to reach his first Wimbledon final. Having previously never gone past the fourth round here, the French Open champion is in ominous form, saying: "Once you win a major, you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again. You have this feeling inside of you."
Faced with that, Fery said later he did not feel quite as "at ease" as in his previous rounds, and he was unfortunate to run into Zverev at his very best, his forehand piercing and serve precise and powerful. "He was always putting constant pressure. I didn't get much rhythm, just not many rallies," he said. "Balls coming back a little bit faster than the other days and what I'm used to, not as sharp with my footwork and mentally. Against a player like that, it adds up pretty quick."
But Fery's fortnight has been astonishing on every level. Having only previously won two grand slam matches, he won five in a row to reach the last four, twice coming from two sets and breaks down, seeing off former Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov and recent French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in his last two matches. As the world No 114, he was something of an odd one out in that final four, alongside the current world No 1, the sport's most recent major winner, and a man with a casual 24 major ******* les to his name.
4 months ago
