Arthur Fery’s fairytale run at Wimbledon continues with a quarter-final tie against Flavio Cobolli. And both players have history that includes a controversial call at the Australian Open.
British tennis may have a new star on its hands and up next for the wildcard is No. 9 seed Cobolli. This will be Fery’s first taste of a Grand Slam quarter-final but he has met Cobolli before in a major tournament. That clash came at the Australian Open in January and the opening set was marred by controversy.
In what was Fery’s first overseas major appearance, he proved he had the appetite for an upset by beating No. 20 seed Cobolli, but not before the Italian issued a complaint. In the opening set, Fery held two break points against his opponent at 3-3 and ventured dangerously close to the net during a point. He pushed down the line and Cobolli’s cross-court shot went wide.
But the question was asked by Cobolli as to whether Fery had touched the net, an illegal action in tennis, before his error. Cobolli complained to the umpire and a video review was requested. This was granted but it took some time to reach a verdict. Both players became rather irate in the meantime and wanted to get on with things.
TNT Sports commentator Paul Hand said: “It’s a good call. Did he indeed touch the net before the ball went out? They will go upstairs and check that out.”
Hand then added after the lengthy wait: “A curious look from Flavio Cobolli to the umpire to say, can we crack on with things please? Pretty agile there, contorting his body out of the way of the net, looks like he didn’t touch it.”
Eventually, it was concluded that Fery had not touched the net and play resumed. Speaking on the incident, he said: “I knew I hadn’t really touched the net, so I guess more time to recover.”