Four games into his first grand slam semi-final, 23-year-old wildcard Arthur Fery produced the sort of moment of magic for which he has rapidly become famous. Having had his serve broken by Alexander Zverev, the Brit responded with ferocity, playing a superb backhand return before racing to a Zverev drop shot, replying with a stunning angled passing shot that flashed across the net, and which the German could only scoop up and wide.
Fery leapt for joy and punched the air to a huge round of applause. Zverev hit long in the next rally to concede the break and send the Centre Court crowd leaping to their feet in raptures, too. It was the kind of moment that summed up the Brit’s tournament: opportunity created out of nothing, his on-court intelligence putting him one or two steps ahead, and helping him wrestle himself back into contention.
Ultimately, it was not enough: Zverev dominated the first set tie-break and played with an authority that has not always come naturally, the world No 3 winning 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 to reach his first Wimbledon final. Having previously never gone past the fourth round here, the French Open champion is in ominous form, saying: “Once you win a major, you know how to do it and you feel like you can do it again. You have this feeling inside of you.”
Faced with that, Fery said later he did not feel quite as “at ease” as in his previous rounds, and he was unfortunate to run into Zverev at his very best, his forehand piercing and serve precise and powerful. “He was always putting constant pressure. I didn’t get much rhythm, just not many rallies,” he said. “Balls coming back a little bit faster than the other days and what I’m used to, not as sharp with my footwork and mentally. Against a player like that, it adds up pretty quick.”
But Fery’s fortnight has been astonishing on every level. Having only previously won two grand slam matches, he won five in a row to reach the last four, twice coming from two sets and breaks down, seeing off former Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov and recent French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in his last two matches. As the world No 114, he was something of an odd one out in that final four, alongside the current world No 1, the sport’s most recent major winner, and a man with a casual 24 major titles to his name.
Fery’s poise and composure throughout this tournament have been unparalleled, and he waved assuredly as he walked out onto Centre Court, dwarfed by the 6ft 6in Zverev, a man nine inches taller than him. But for all Fery’s remarkable leap up the rankings – he will leave Wimbledon as the world No 36 and British No 1 – there is still a gulf to the very top. He has the talent and attitude to bridge it, but it was not something that could be achieved today.
There are many positives to be taken from this breakout run, however. “It would have been easy to just, for example, let Zizou Bergs run away with his two breaks in the fourth and go on holiday and come back,” Fery said. “[I] just kept fighting, came back to the match court every time and gave my best, I was mentally locked in. Lacked a bit of that today. It might have been just a step too far, the opponent was a step up again. That’s what I was most proud of, never letting go and really pushing myself to the limit.”
It was Zverev who was more error-prone in the opening stages, surviving two deuces in his first service game, while he looked tight on his always edgier forehand wing. Fery held to love in response but came unstuck in his next service game, making unusual errors under pressure as Zverev attacked his second serve.
But Fery responded immediately, and the break back settled him; he stayed in touching distance throughout the remainder of the set and forced a tiebreak. But having rarely put a foot wrong in the opening set, things then unravelled. His inexperience at this level told as he opened with a double fault. Then, a rare forehand error left him shaking his head, while Zverev went on the attack, his serve in full flow. A punchy cross-court return sealed an emphatic 7-0 tiebreak, while Centre Court, and Fery, fell flat.
Fery lost the first set in each of his first three matches here, and fought back from losing positions in all but one of his previous rounds. It rapidly became clear that doing so again here would be a significantly harder task.
Zverev has become a different, more energised player since that French Open win: more willing to go on the attack and finally converting his off-court swagger into confidence on it. He was rapidly a double break up, and the usually fired-up Fery’s head dipped, while he was irritated several times by a lack of let calls by the umpire.
The Centre Court crowd felt limp too, reviving somewhat as Fery served at 5-1 down. Two double faults – the second on his advantage – threatened to bring an end to the set, and although he recovered to hold, Zverev, who only dropped three points on serve in the entire set, quickly closed out for a two-set lead.
Fery went off court to reset and returned to a huge cheer, but it was hard to ignore the growing sense of the inevitable. His shot selection and clarity, particularly at the net, where he was so impressive against Cobolli, weren’t quite there. The pressure on him was enormous: he was outgunned and outflanked, overpowered from the baseline and attacked from all angles.
The 23-year-old dug himself out of a hole at deuce in his first service game but was broken to love for 3-2, fighting and scrapping in each rally but unable to find a response to a 123mph forehand Zverev lashed into the corner. One desperate chant of “Let’s go Arthur, let’s go” as he fell 0-30 down again was met with a muttered “Let’s go home” from a punter near the press box.
A big cheer greeted an ace out wide, and the roof nearly lifted off as Fery slid around the court chasing down drop shots, planting a lovely passing shot beyond the German. Two fierce aces sealed the hold, the will to fight on still there, but against a superior opponent, it was in vain.
Another two aces in Fery’s next service game ensured Zverev would be forced to serve it out, but the tightness which has often enveloped the second seed on occasions like this failed to materialise. An overhit forehand whipped up a cheer from the crowd and a trademark fist pump from Fery, but hope proved short-lived.
After an errant forehand handed over the match, Fery managed a smile as he waved to the crowd, bidding goodbye to the most consequential fortnight of his life and the scene of his biggest triumphs.
British hopes have shone brightly at Wimbledon before and not always gone on to replicate that magic, but on the evidence of this week, 23-year-old Fery and his dazzling game will very much be back. He said later: “I feel like I’ve showcased it here, but also in the past year since I came back from injury, I’ve played really high-level tennis. I don’t know where exactly if I can put a number on my level, but I feel definitely comfortable playing slam main draws and more.”
For Zverev, a meeting with Jannik Sinner awaits, with the German in such form that the defending champion– historically so dominant against him – may well match the first-time finalist for nerves.
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