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French Open champion Alexander Zverev ended the remarkable run of British wildcard Arthur Fery with a dominant semi-final victory on Friday to reach his first Wimbledon final.
The second seed will face either reigning champion Jannik Sinner or seven-time winner Novak Djokovic for the title on Sunday after seeing off Fery 7-6 (7/0), 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court.
“It’s amazing,” said Zverev. “I know that 99.9 percent of the stadium was wanting Arthur to win, but it was still such an incredible atmosphere.”
Zverev is the first German man to reach the final at the All England Club since Boris Becker in 1995.
He stands one win from ending his nation’s 35-year wait for a men’s Wimbledon champion since Michael Stich lifted the trophy.
The 29-year-old is also
only the third man in the Open era to win a maiden Grand Slam title, which he achieved at Roland Garros last month, and then reach the final of his next major tournament.
He had never even got past the last 16 in nine previous visits to the All England Club.
“This Grand Slam has always been the one I struggled with the most and all of a sudden I’m in the Wimbledon final. I’m incredibly happy,” added Zverev who has only dropped two sets in the tournament so far.
“But we have one more match to go on Sunday and that is what the focus is on.”
Zverev will face a much tougher examination in his fifth Slam final against the winner of Friday’s second last-four tie between Sinner and Djokovic.
He has lost his last nine meetings with world number one Sinner, including last year’s Australian Open final.
Zverev also only has one win from five Grand Slam matches against Djokovic, which was when the 24-time major champion retired injured after one set of their 2025 semi-final in Melbourne.
“I hope I can play a junior, that would be great,” Zverev joked when asked who he would rather face in the final.
“Whether it’s the defending champion or someone who has won here 48 times like Novak Djokovic, it’s not going to be easy.
“But I have to trust myself and believe I can win and that’s all I can do.”
Fery was the first wildcard to reach the Wimbledon men’s semis since Goran Ivanisevic 25 years ago, but his hopes of emulating the popular Croat by going all the way were dashed by a ruthless Zverev.
The home crowd’s new hero will be able to console himself with a rise from 114th to 36th in the ATP rankings, guaranteeing entry into tennis’ biggest events.
(With inputs from AFP)
