Wimbledon grant Arthur Fery request as BBC left sweating on Brit | Tennis | Sport
British hopeful Arthur Fery will play on Centre Court at Wimbledon for the first time after admitting it would be incredible to grace the main stage. Fery, the last Brit standing in the men’s or women’s singles draws, is due to play Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round after coming through an epic five-setter against Zizou Bergs. He was on Court 18 for the victory over Bergs, but there was no escaping a move to one of the show courts, and he is scheduled to play second on Centre on Monday, leaving question marks over what this means for the BBC’s coverage.
“Of course,” Fery told BBC Sport when asked about if he would like to move to Centre Court. “It would be awesome to play on Centre, I’ve never played on there. [It’s] probably the most emblematic tennis court in the world so it would be incredible to play there.” On the topic of opponent Dimitrov, he said: “I’ve seen Grigor play loads, obviously a great player with a great career so I’m looking forward to the challenge and obviously it’s going to be a good experience.”
Fery is scheduled to follow the women’s singles match between Jasmine Paolini and Alexandra Eala on Centre Court. This means the BBC have been left sweating around a potential scheduling headache involving the World Cup.
The blockbuster round of 16 match between Spain and Portugal is due to air on BBC One on Monday. Kick off is at 8pm, while Centre Court action begins at 1.30pm, meaning they may be able to avoid a substantial clash between the tennis and the football.
Current listings have Wimbledon on BBC Two, while pre-match coverage of the football starts at 7.30pm on Monday. This could leave some sports fans having to choose between the two, especially if Paolini vs Eala and Fery vs Dimitrov both go the distance.
“I think it’s a good position to be in the tournament where you’re being told you can’t play on Court 18 because it’s too small for you, you need to go to the bigger stages,” BBC pundit Jamie Murray said of Fery. “It’s going to be a great occasion for him, a great match up for him again, playing Dimitrov.
“I’m sure he’s watched him growing up and followed his career. It will be a very exciting match, two guys with a lot of variety, they know their way around a grass court and it should make for a lot of fun rallies, I’d think.”
Both men received wild cards for the Championships this year and both needed five sets to book their place in round four. While Fery came from two sets to one down against Bergs, Dimitrov took the first two against Matteo Berrettini – also on Centre Court – and finished the job after allowing his Italian opponent back into the match.
