Arthur Fery promised not to swear on mic as the BBC told him they would not repeat what he had told his box after winning a Wimbledon epic against Grigor Dimitrov. Fery defied the odds on Centre Court, coming back from two sets to one and a break down to stun his accomplished opponent. The wildcard was lost for words when he was interviewed on court by Rishi Persad, who confirmed the Beeb would not be sharing exactly what he had said seconds after clinching victory.
“I’m not going to swear. That would be a problem,” Fery said with a smile, in apparent acknowledgement of those comments. “But yeah, first time on this court, five sets against an absolute legend of the game. I grew up five minutes from here, I grew up coming to watch matches on this court. We’ve got probably the greatest of all time watching in the front row. I saw him. And now playing here in front of all you guys, having the support and winning. It’s unbelievable.”
Fery, 23, knew before the first point that this was already his best ever run at a Grand Slam. He beat Damir Dzumhur, Otto Virtanen and Zizou Bergs – the latter in a five-set epic – to set up the meeting with fellow wild card Dimitrov.
After taking the first set via a tie-break, the Brit lost the next two and may have feared the dream was over. However, as his 35-year-old opponent tired, Fery was able to take the fourth and force a decider.
It felt inevitable that a 10-point tie-break would be needed to separate the two men in the fifth set and so it proved. The pair traded early mini-breaks during a nervy exchange before Fery held his nerve to win 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.
The Brit was asked about how he managed to pull off yet another comeback from the brink of defeat. “It’s been the story of the tournament for me,” he replied.
“I was really close to losing my last round as well and again today, a break down in the fourth. Just trying to keep fighting, keep having a good attitude, committing to what I’m trying to do on the court and it managed to pay off. I’m playing really well with my back against the wall and again it paid off today.”
When asked about the emotion and drama of the occasion, he added: “I couldn’t have imagined it. A week ago I would have been happy to win a few matches here and now winning four matches, being in the quarters, it’s a dream of mine.”
Fery will now take on Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals after the No.9 seed beat Alex de Minaur earlier on Monday. He has already beaten the Italian in one Grand Slam this year, knocking him out of the Australian Open.