Arthur Fery became the first man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals as a wildcard in 25 years after the Briton extended his fairytale run with a stunning victory against Flavio Cobolli on Wednesday.
Fery swatted aside French Open finalist Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 in a quarter-final rout that delighted the partisan crowd on Centre Court.
The 23-year-old is the first British wildcard to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam in the Open era.
History in the making 🪽
Arthur Fery is the second player ever to reach the Gentlemen’s Singles semi-finals as a wild card. #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/AVs6E3V6cw
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2026
Fery faces French Open champion Alexander Zverev on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final.
“It gets better and better every
match. It’s incredible. I just can’t believe it,” Fery said.
“I was very nervous beforehand but I just kept going until the finish line. In that last game I felt emotions I have never felt in my life.”
The world number 114’s astonishing run has him positioned to follow in the footsteps of flamboyant Croatian Goran Ivanisevic, who beat Pat Rafter to win Wimbledon as a wildcard in 2001.
Incredibly, Fery is just two victories away from emulating Ivanisevic and becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon since Andy Murray in 2016.
He is the third-lowest ranked man since 1985 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, after world number 237 Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 and world number 125 Ivanisevic in 2001.
He is also the first British man to make the last four at Wimbledon since Cameron Norrie in 2022 and only the fifth in the Open era.
“I beat Flavio earlier this year. It was a boost of confidence, even though this was my first time in the quarter-finals,” he said.
“I’m so happy. I’m just going to keep going and see where that takes me.”
Fery’s jaw-dropping rise comes after he had won just two matches at Grand Slams in his career prior to this year’s Wimbledon.
He had never been past the second round of a Grand Slam in his four other appearances at the majors.
Fery’s run is all the more remarkable as he was unable to play singles for part of 2025 because of a bone stress injury in his arm that hindered him for 18 months.
(With inputs from AFP)
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