The China Mail - Britain's Fery becomes first wildcard to reach Wimbledon semis in 25 years

Fery swatted aside French Open finalist Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 in a quarter-final rout that delighted the partisan crowd on Centre Court.

The 23-year-old is the first British wildcard to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam in the Open era.

Fery faces French Open champion Alexander Zverev on Friday for a place in Sunday's final.

The world number 114's astonishing run has him positioned to follow in the footsteps of flamboyant Croatian Goran Ivanisevic, who beat Pat Rafter to win Wimbledon as a wildcard in 2001.

Incredibly, Fery is just two victories away from emulating Ivanisevic and becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon since Andy Murray in 2016.

He is the third-lowest ranked man since 1985 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, after world number 237 Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 and world number 125 Ivanisevic in 2001.

He is also the first British man to make the last four at Wimbledon since Cameron Norrie in 2022 and only the fifth in the Open era.

Fery's jaw-dropping rise comes after he had won just two matches at Grand Slams in his career prior to this year's Wimbledon.

He had never been past the second round of a Grand Slam in his four other appearances at the majors.

Fery's run is all the more remarkable as he was unable to play singles for part of 2025 because of a bone stress injury in his arm that hindered him for 18 months.

- A blur of energy -

Injury issues aside, Fery has been to the manor born in the plush surroundings of Wimbledon.

Fery's wealthy father Loic is the president of French football club Lorient, while his mother Olivia enjoyed a distinguished tennis career, winning two singles titles and playing at the French Open.

Fery moved from France to London as a young child and went to school in the Wimbledon area.

He needed a wild card to enter Wimbledon this year after losing in French Open qualifying and the second round at the Australian Open.

Fery announced himself as an All England Club cult hero with a brilliant five-set victory over former world number three Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16.

No wonder the famous grass verge where fans gather to watch matches on a big screen at the All England Club has already been dubbed 'Arthur's Seat' after previously being known as Henman Hill and Murray Mount.

In 2023, Cobolli said he "hated" playing on grass after losing in Wimbledon qualifying for the second successive year.

The Italian world number 10, who made it to the Roland Garros final in June, seemed uncomfortable from the start against Fery.

Complaining about the raucous pro-Fery crowd and grumbling about a champagne cork popping as he was about to serve, Cobolli was no match for the effervescent underdog.

Fery has been riding a wave of emotion since fighting back to beat Zizou Bergs in five sets in the third round and once again he was a blur of energy on the baseline, taking the first set on his first break point.

Showing no sign of nerves, Fery kept the pressure on Cobolli and took the second set in a tie-break.

With the temperature approaching a blistering 34C, Fery was the coolest man on Centre Court.

He raced through the third set and collapsed to the turf in disbelief after clinching the biggest win of his life with an ace.

A.Kwok--ThChM