Under the watchful eyes of the nation’s Queen, Arthur Fery, with his dazzling footwork and relentless spirit, edged closer to a potential crowning achievement of his own.
The 23-year-old, standing at 5ft 9in yet playing with the determination of a giant, triumphed over No. 9 seed Flavio Cobolli in straight sets. In doing so, he became the first wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals since Goran Ivanisevic achieved this feat a quarter-century ago.
Should he clinch two more victories, Fery could celebrate his 24th birthday on Sunday as Wimbledon champion. Ahead of him lies the challenge of facing French Open winner Alexander Zverev tomorrow (or on Friday), followed by either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic in the final.
“During that last game, I felt emotions unlike anything I’ve experienced before,” said Fery, who is set to surpass Cam Norrie as Britain’s top-ranked player after the tournament. “Each match seems to elevate my performance. It’s unbelievable. I’ve put in great work over these last 10 days, and I’m just planning to continue and see where it leads.”
While Fery’s journey to this point has been nothing short of remarkable, it hasn’t come without its qualifiers. So far, he has not faced any competitor ranked within the world’s top 35. His third-round opponent, Zizou Bergs, faced a dramatic collapse, and in the fourth round, he competed against Grigor Dimitrov, a talented player who had won only six matches throughout 2026 before this event.
No caveats this time: Fery faced the No9 seed, a French Open finalist last month, and made him look ordinary. What a day this was and what an occasion awaits tomorrow/on Friday, as Fery becomes the fifth British man in the Open Era to make the last four here, joining Roger Taylor, Tim Henman, Andy Murray and Norrie.
Arthur Fery falls to the floor as he celebrates winning match point to see off Flavio Cobolli
He raised a fist to the crowd to salute his victory as the British wildcard reached the semi-finals
With respect to Norrie, who made the semis in 2022, we have not seen grass-court tennis like this from a British player since Murray’s heyday.
In the relentlessness of his double-handed backhand, the aggression of his return, the subtlety of his hand skills and the sophistication of his tactics, Fery looked like the great Scot with six inches sawn off and a handful of Xanax in his system.
For while Murray played with sound and fury, Fery operates with utter tranquility as the storm of national excitement rages around him.
Just seconds before he and Cobolli were about to walk on court, Queen Camilla appeared to wish them luck. It was a symbol of the scale of the occasion; an added dose of nerves.
And yet Fery reacted as if an old friend had popped by unannounced. He said hello, shouldered his bag, strode on to Centre Court and played the match of his life.
There is a school of thought that grass is losing its uniqueness as a surface – that players can just show up and blaze away as they do on hard or clay. Fery has been a wonderful antidote to that notion this fortnight and he made Cobolli – a player who took Djokovic to four tough sets in the quarters here last year – look as if he had never played a match on grass in his life.
Fery’s slices off both forehand and backhand, his drop shots and his delicately crafted volleys left Cobolli utterly discombobulated. It was as if the Italian, with his modern, muscled topspin forehand, had been dragged back to the era when men played here in starched shirts and flannels.
But for all Fery’s hand skills, what has really set him apart this fortnight are his feet. He moves so beautifully on a grass court, shimmering over its surface like a bird skimming over water.
Fery has now won five matches this fortnight, having won just one match at Wimbledon previously
Fery made a tranquil start and the first nine games passed without threat of a break. Then the Centre Court crowd came to his aid in peculiarly Wimbledon fashion.
At 4-5, Cobolli threw up the ball to serve but had to bail out of his action as the pop of a champagne cork split the silence. Umpire Arnaud Gabas told the crowd: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy your drinks but wait until the end of the point before opening a bottle’ – a ticking off that was the Wimbledon equivalent of firing tear gas at hooligans.
All very silly but it seemed to affect Cobolli’s rhythm, for in the three points that followed he coughed up two unforced errors, a double fault and thus the opening set.
They traded breaks early in the second and we found ourselves in a tiebreak. Fery took it 7-4 and has now won all five of his tiebreaks this fortnight – he is at his very best in the biggest moments.
One of the advantages of being a bolter at a Grand Slam is the field does not have much of an idea how to play you. Cobolli looked like he did not know whether he was trying to blast Fery off court or grind him down.
Still, surely we would see a response from the Grand Slam finalist in the third set? Instead, capitulation. Fery, playing with utter freedom, demolished him.
Fery has now faced Cobolli twice without dropping a set, after a win in the first round of the Australian Open in January. That startling result was explained away by the fact Cobolli was suffering from diarrhoea. This time, it was the brilliance of Fery’s tennis which left the Italian sick to his stomach.
Queen Camilla applauded in the Royal Box after Fery sealed victory to continue his fairytale
As he served out the match to love, there was one point which summed Fery up. He charged forward and Cobolli whipped a backhand at him; the ball clipped the net tape and jagged in the opposite direction. With all his weight on his right foot Fery slipped, readjusted, danced to his left and hit the winner.
You could go to the National Ballet and not see footwork like it. What a performance.