Zverev has 99 problems but Fritz ain’t one as Wimbledon star to play villain | Tennis | Sport

Alexander Zverev knows the crowd will be “99 per cent” against him when he takes on Arthur Fery in his Wimbledon semi-final. But the French Open winner insisted fans at the All England Club have always been fair to anyone who takes on a British hopeful. Zverev won his quarter-final against Taylor Fritz in straight sets, with the match finishing just moments after Fery stunned Flavio Cobolli on Centre Court. And the cheers for the Brit could be heard loud and clear on Court 1 while his next opponent was serving for victory.

“I’m very happy to play him in the semi-finals,” Zverev, 29, said of Fery. “I think it’s going to be a great atmosphere. “Of course, I know that 99 per cent of the people will be cheering for him. But I also enjoy those kinds of atmospheres. I enjoy when the energy is very high. For me, British crowds, the crowd here at Wimbledon, is always quite fair. They cheer loud, energetic, but they’re still fair. I look forward to that challenge.”

Zverev has experience of playing a British opponent on Centre Court, beating Cam Norrie in straight sets in the third round in 2024. “I’ve been on tour for long enough. I feel like I’ve seen the most hostile crowds, I’ve seen tough crowds, I’ve seen unfair crowds as well,” he added.

“I feel like I should know how to handle it, I’ve learned how to handle it. I’m okay with it.

“Again, I always feel like the English crowd here, especially in London, they’re always quite fair.

“Yes, they can be loud, they can be cheerful, but that’s okay. I don’t mind it at all.”

Zverev hadn’t beaten Fritz in two years before their latest meeting, losing to him at Wimbledon in 2024. However, the American revealed after the latest loss that he had been hampered by injury from just a few minutes into Wednesday’s encounter – though he made a point of not taking away from his opponent’s performance.

“I almost wish I knew before so I could have just prepared to play a match where I was going to be kind of playing through it, ’cause I felt like the whole first set I was, like I said, three games in is when I started feeling it. I was already down a break,” the 28-year-old said.

“I was just panicking, What am I going to do? I just didn’t expect it at all. The only signs I had were I had some pain towards the very end of my [fourth round] match with Bublik. I was already up two sets and a break.

“I thought maybe not the best sign that I was feeling it after that match, because it wasn’t super physical. But typically it’s how tendinitis is. He gets irritated sometimes. You give it a little bit of a rest, and then it feels better.

“I expected, after a light day yesterday, to feel fine today. I felt fine, felt really good in my warm-up actually. Felt like my warm-up was great. Then, yeah, I have no answers as to why three games in it was like that.