British wildcard Arthur Fery has reached the Wimbledon semifinals, extending his impressive tournament run with a decisive victory over Flavio Cobolli.
Fery, ranked 114th in the world, defeated the ninth seed Cobolli, the French Open runner-up, in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0. The win secures his place in a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time in his career. He is the first men's wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in 25 years.
"This time around he lapped up the adulation of his adoring audience," the BBC reported. Fery had previously expressed disbelief after his win in the previous round against Grigor Dimitrov. The 23-year-old is the lowest-ranked player to reach the last four at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, who was also a wildcard and went on to win the title.
Fery's journey to this stage has been remarkable. Just 18 months ago, he was ranked outside the world's top 500, struggling with a bone stress injury in his arm. He did not enter the top 200 until October. Despite these past challenges, he has shown unshakeable composure on court.
He will now face French Open champion Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday. Regardless of the outcome, Fery is guaranteed to become the new British number one and will rise to 36th in the world rankings, nearing a seeded position for the US Open.
The victory over Cobolli also earned Fery prize money of £900,000, more than doubling his previous career earnings. He is only the fifth British player in the Open era to reach the men's singles semifinals at Wimbledon.