Arthur Fery's extraordinary Wimbledon adventure rolled on in spectacular fashion on Monday as the 23-year-old wildcard defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-7) on Centre Court to become the first British wildcard ever to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final.
Ranked 114 in the world and entering the tournament with only two Grand Slam victories to his name, Fery had never previously won a five-set match. He has now won two consecutively, both from desperate positions. Against Dimitrov, he was twice broken in the fourth set before digging deep to force a deciding set, then edged the tiebreak in a nail-biting conclusion watched by a packed Centre Court and thousands more on The Hill.
Among those taking in every moment was Roger Federer, watching from the Royal Box just metres away. Fery, who grew up just five minutes from the All England Club, barely concealed his disbelief afterwards. "A week ago I would have been happy to win a few matches here," he said. "To win four and be in the quarter-finals, it's a dream."
Fery's achievement makes him the lowest-ranked men's player to reach the Wimbledon last eight since Nick Kyrgios in 2014. He joins illustrious British company in the Wimbledon quarter-final club alongside Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Cameron Norrie, Roger Taylor, and Greg Rusedski, the latter offering glowing praise on BBC Radio 5, declaring that Fery "stood tall and found a solution" while Dimitrov buckled under pressure.
Next up for Fery is Italian ninth seed Flavio Cobolli, who dispatched Alex de Minaur in straight sets. Fery beat Cobolli at the Australian Open earlier this year. Conveniently, Sunday's final falls on Fery's 24th birthday, a detail TennisDraw users will surely factor into their quarter-final bracket predictions.
