The "Fery-tale" continues at Wimbledon.
World No. 114 Arthur Fery, a two-time All-American at Stanford who grew up about a mile away from the All England Club, is a semifinalist at the grass-court Grand Slam.
The British player, 23, who needed a wild-card invitation to enter the tournament, beat ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0 on Centre Court in front of roaring home fans and a royal box contingent that included Britain's Queen Camilla on Wednesday.
In the Open era, there had been only three other men's wild cards to reach the semifinals at any major: Jimmy Connors (1991 US Open), Henri Leconte (1992 French Open) and Goran Ivanisevic (2001 Wimbledon champion).
Get To Know Arthur Fery
• Last remaining British player (man or woman) at this year's Wimbledon • 5th British man to reach Wimbledon semis in Open era, joining Andy Murray (7 times), Tim Henman (4 times), Roger Taylor (twice), Cameron Norrie (2022) • Grew up about a mile away from the All England Club • Currently ranked No. 114 | projected to move up to No. 36 in the world next week • Former All-American at Stanford (2023 Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year) • Father, Loic, is president of FC Lorient in France's top soccer division
-- ESPN Research
"It gets better and better every match," Fery said in an on-court interview. "I just can't believe it."
He earned a standing ovation after winning the first set. The deafening roar that followed Fery taking the tiebreaker to seal the second set was heard inside Wimbledon's other main stadium -- No. 1 Court, where Alexander Zverev was in the process of beating Taylor Fritz in straight sets.
Fery became just the third player outside the ATP's Top 100 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals over the past 40 years, alongside No. 237 Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 and No. 125 Ivanisevic in 2001.
Fery sealed his memorable victory with an ace and fell onto his back to soak in the applause.
"That last game, I felt emotions that I hadn't experienced before in my life," he said.
A short time later, Zverev wrapped up his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win to set up a semifinal against Fery on Friday.
Fery and Cobolli were surprised to meet Camilla in the hallway moments before they walked onto the court for their match.