A Fery-Tale Continues At Wimbledon, British Wild Card Through To Semifinal

WIMBLEDON/WASHINGTON, July 8, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

The Arthur Fery fairytale at the Wimbledon Championships keeps getting better and better – more unbelievable round by round – and, best of all, it’s all true.

On Wednesday afternoon, with Queen Camilla sitting in the front row of the Centre Court Royal Box, the 23-year-old French-born, British wild card – ranked No. 114 at the start of the London fortnight – who had never advanced past the third round at Wimbledon, clobbered World No. 10 and ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli of Italy, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0, in two hours and 14 minutes.

Fery, a two-time All-American at Stanford University in the United States, already had made history by becoming the first British wild card to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam. Now, he’s gone one step further with his quarterfinal victory to become just the second player to reach the men’s singles semifinals at the All England Club as a wild card, after 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic.

Against the French Open finalist Cobolli, Fery hit 27 winners – including eight aces – and won 78 percent (40 of 51) of his first-serve points. He converted five of nine break-point chances and was broken just once. Fery outpointed his opponent 102-76 and took full advantage of 41 unforced errors by the Italian No. 2. Fery wrapped up match point with his eighth ace and immediately fell to his back in celebration.

On Friday, Fery will take on World No. 3 and second seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, who needed just an hour and 59 minutes to defeat World No. 7 and sixth seed Taylor Fritz of the United States, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, on No. 1 Court.

After beginning this year’s Wimbledon with just six ATP Tour-level wins to his name, the personable Fery has won the hearts of British tennis fans by being the only home favorite remaining in the men’s or women’s singles draws. His all-around performances has been filled a sense of quality and joy.

En route to the last four, Fery has defeated Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Otto Virtanen of Finland, Zizou Bergs of Belgium, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Cobolli. Against Dimitrov in his first Centre Court experience on Monday, Fery came from a set and a break down to pull out a five-set triumph.

“It just seems to be getting better and better every match,” Fery said during his on-court interview with the BBC. “I just can’t believe it. Incredible, playing on Centre Court for the second time, a second win. I just can’t believe it.”

Fery is just the fifth British man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in the Open Era (since 1968), joining the distinguished company of Roger Taylor, Tim Henman, Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie.

When Fery was asked how he planned to prepare for his semifinal against Zverev on Friday, he said: “I guess it’s going to be a first time and we will figure it out as we go. I’m just going to keep going. I’ve been doing a great job over the past 10 days. I’m just going to do the same thing and see where that takes me.”

Meanwhile, Zverev dominated his fourth Wimbledon meeting against Fritz after reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time in his career this year. His straight-set win ended a seven-match losing streak against the American that dates back to the 2024 Wimbledon tournament.

With his quarterfinal victory that advanced him into his first Wimbledon semifinal, the reigning Roland-Garros champion became the fifth active player – after Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner – to reach the men’s singles semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

Zverev, who has won 15 of his last 16 matches, struck 29 overall winners – including 14 aces – and won 77 percent (46 of 60) of his first-serve points. He saved all four break points he faced from Fritz and broke his opponent’s serve four times in six opportunities. Zverev outpointed Fritz 93-73.

“I hope to play two more matches here,” Zverev said, smiling, during his on-court interview with the BBC. “But for now, I’m extremely happy to be in the semifinals, especially against Taylor, who I haven’t [beaten] in more than two years. He’s [been] beating me for two years straight. … I played a fantastic match and I’m very happy to be in the semifinals.”

Kostyuk finds her sweet spot on Centre Court against Paolini

Marta Kostyuk reached her second-straight major semifinal with her 6-3, 6-2 victory over 2024 Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini on Centre Court Wednesday afternoon.

With power and athleticism as her allies, the No. 12 seed from Ukraine took care of business in just 69 minutes before an audience that included Queen Camilla of England. Kostyuk’s victory equaled her best major result, which occurred last month when she reached the semifinals of Roland-Garros. Now, she’s the second Ukrainian after Elina Svitolina to reach a Wimbledon semifinal.

With three singles titles – two this year at Rouen and Madrid – and 16 career wins versus Top-10 opponents, including seven this year, the 24-year-old Kostyuk, ranked World No. 13, has been one of the best if not most consistent players on the WTA Tour this season. After going 16-1 on clay, Kostyuk has continued her success on grass, putting together a five-match winning streak. At Wimbledon, she’s dropped just two sets in her five victories. Kostyuk has won 21 of her last 22 matches overall.

Against the World No. 17 Paolini, Kostyuk found her sweet spot early on never let up. She hit 19 winners to 19 unforced errors, won 90 percent (19 of 21) of her first-serve points and converted four of eight break points. Kostyuk faced no break points and she outpointed Paolini 63-44.

“Winning here was not even in the plans today, I just wanted to go out, enjoy it,” Kostyuk said during her on-court interview with the BBC after her quarterfinal triumph. “I was on this court as a spectator once nine years ago watching Roger [Federer]. It was super special to be back here as a player.”

After never making it past the third round at Wimbledon, Kostyuk is now part of the final four, which also includes No. 7 seed Coco Gauff of the United States and No. 10 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia, who will meet in one semifinal and No. 9 seed Linda Noskova of Czechia, whom she will face on Thursday. All of them are first-time Wimbledon semifinalists.

Kostyuk has credited her improved mental outlook – the joy of playing winning tennis – with her success in winning on grass.

“I don’t know – being kind to myself and being open to try,” she said last Saturday after her third-round win against American Emma Navarro. It’s a subject she’s discussed in near every one of her news conferences during this year’s grass-court major.

“First few days, I was in some sort of desperation – I felt like, ‘No matter what I do on this surface, I’m going to fail.’ It was difficult to just handle this and enjoy and just try to give myself the best chance,” she explained.

“It worked out, I guess.”

In the other quarterfinal Wednesday, 21-year-old Noskova, ranked World No. 13, eased past No. 25 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, 6-3, 7-5, in one hour and 50 minutes on No. 1 Court to reach her first major semifinal. The Czech No. 1 won 79 percent (37 of 47) of her first-serve points, hit 30 winners to 31 unforced errors and converted two of 11 break points. She outpointed Mertens, 86-68. Noskova has gone 10-1 on grass this year.

“The feelings are incredible. Like never before,” Noskova said during her on-court interview with the BBC. “This is what I’m playing tennis for. For these matches and these big stages and big courts. This is a truly special feeling.”

Kostyuk won her only previous meeting against Noskova, on clay at Madrid earlier this season.

Around the All England Club

• In men’s doubles, No. 6 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia upset No. 3 seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain, 6-2, 7-6 (2), to advance to the semifinal round. Also reaching the last four was No. 7 seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany, who defeated No. 13 seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul of France, 7-5, 7-6 (6).

• In women’s doubles, No. 2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Luisa Stefani of Brazil defeated unseeded Katarzyna Piter of Poland and Anna Siskova of Czechia, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the semifinal round. Also advancing was No. 13 seeds Shuko Aoyama of Japan and En-Shuo Liang of Taiwan, who beat No. 9 seeds Ellen Perez of Australia and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-4.

• Friday’s mixed doubles final will feature unseeded Australians Marc Polmans and Storm Hunter versus No. 2 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.

Wednesday’s Wimbledon results

Thursday’s Wimbledon order of play

By the numbers

• Alexander Zverev ended a seven-match losing streak against Taylor Fritz with his quarterfinal victory Wednesday. It was his 2nd-longest losing streak to another member of the current world Top 10 – he is currently on a nine-match losing streak against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.

• No. 114 Arthur Fery has seen his PIF ATP Live Ranking rise up 78 spots to No. 36. He would improve to No. 26 if he defeats Alexander Zverev in Friday’s semifinal round.

“Quotable …”

“She’s playing great tennis in the last three months. She has a lot of confidence, for sure. She’s a great athlete. She plays tennis very well. A lot of things that I think she does pretty well.

“Today for me maybe was even more difficult because, as I said, I didn’t move and I didn’t feel so fast on court. But credit to her, because she made me feel more stressed on court, more under pressure and stuff like that.”

No. 13 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, during her post-match news conference Wednesday, after losing her quarterfinal-round match to No. 12 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, 6-3, 6-2.

A Fery-Tale Continues At Wimbledon, British Wild Card Through To Semifinal

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