Arthur Fery’s next opponent jokes as match disrupted by Wimbledon hero’s win | Tennis | Sport

Alexander Zverev knows he will have all of Wimbledon against him when he faces Arthur Fery in the semi-finals on Friday. The No.2 seed made light work of Taylor Fritz on Court No.1, wrapping up a straight sets victory in two hours. But moments before he reached match point, he paused to take in a huge cheer from Centre Court to mark Fery’s win against Flavio Cobolli. Speaking on court moments after clinching his own 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win, French Open champion Zverev was asked about the eruption of noise during that final service game and responded with humour.

‘Cobolli won? Really?” the 29-year-old joked, well aware the roar must have been for Fery. “It’s okay, you guys can all be for Fery, It’s totally fine, understand it, I don’t have a problem with it. I hope good for me and not so good for everyone else. But look, I think it’s going to be an exciting day for both of us, first time in the semi-finals at wimbledon for both of us. For him of course it’s a ferytale story, for Arthur Fery, see what I did there?! Very clever! But I think I have to trust myself, I have to trust my tennis and hopefully I can just show a good performance and see what happens.”

When asked how it felt to be able to call himself a Wimbledon semi-finalist, the German said it felt great. Not only that but he was delighted to get some revenge on Fritz, a player who had won their previous seven meetings including at Wimbledon in 2024.

“I want to play two more matches here so we’ll see how it goes but for now I’m extremely happy to be in the semi-finals,” he said. “Especially [winning] against Taylor who I haven’t [beaten] in two years He’s beaten me for two years straight and I played a fantastic match, I’m very happy to be in the semi-finals.

“Nothing on a tennis court is ever easy, if I played my five-year-old daughter it would maybe be easy…for her. I just knew I had to focus from the first moment onwards. First game on my serve I had three break points against me and knew it would be a difficult match no matter what.

“It’s in the back of your mind that you haven’t beaten an opponent for more than two years. But today I knew I had to play a flawless match, I had  to play an almost perfect match to have a chance and feel like i did that today.”

Zverev’s semi-final opponent Fery was in disbelief after extending his own run at SW19. He also got the job done in straight sets, winning the third 6-0 against his seeded opponent.

“It was incredible playing on Centre Court for the second time and getting a second win. I just can’t believe it,” Fery, 23, said.

“I played Flavio earlier this year and I beat him in Australia which was a boost of confidence, so I knew that I could do it even though it was my first time in the quarter-finals and he has done it before in a Grand Slam. I was very nervous beforehand but I just kept going until the finish line.”