British wildcard Fery beats Cobolli to reach semis as fairytale continues

Britain’s Arthur Fery became only the fourth wildcard to reach the men’s singles semi-finals at a Grand Slam as his dream Wimbledon run continued with a 6-4 7-6(4) 6-0 victory over Italian ninth seed Flavio Cobolli on Wednesday. Born in France to French parents but having grown up five minutes from the All England Club, Fery entered Wimbledon ranked 114th in the world and largely unknown to the wider British public but his exploits have captivated the nation. French Open runner-up Cobolli was the highest-ranked player the 23-year-old Fery has faced but on a sweltering Centre Court he produced another fearless performance. His victory means he is only the fifth British man in the professional era to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, joining Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Roger Taylor and Cameron Norrie. Cobolli had the first chance of the match but failed to convert a break point at 3-3 in the first set and the Italian wavered when serving at 4-5, double-faulting and then missing a forehand wide to pass up the opening set. Fery recovered from dropping serve early in the second set and then controlled the tiebreak to put one foot in the semi-finals as errors flowed off the Cobolli racket. With 14 hours already in his legs just to reach the quarter-finals, including marathon five-set victories in both the previous rounds, Fery showed no sign of fatigue in the searing heat as he broke Cobolli’s serve at the start of the third. Fery showed incredible resilience to fight off break points in the next game and that proved to be Cobolli’s final resistance as the Italian cracked under the relentless intensity of the British player. He closed out the win with an ace to become the lowest-ranked player to reach the men’s semi-finals at Wimbledon since 125th ranked Goran Ivanisevic memorably won the title in 2001. The only other men’s wildcards to reach Grand Slam semi-finals are Jimmy Connors at the 1991 U.S. Open and Henri Leconte at the 1992 French Open. Flawless Zverev cracks Fritz code Alexander Zverev cleared one of the biggest hurdles in his bid for the Wimbledon title by snapping a lengthy losing run against Taylor Fritz with a 6-4 6-4 6-2 win to make the semi-finals and stay on track for back-to-back Grand Slam triumphs. Having come up short in his last seven clashes with Fritz, including at the All England Club in 2024, French Open champion Zverev finally turned the tables with an assured display for a last-four meeting with Arthur Fery, who beat Flavio Cobolli. The German second seed rode an early break to a 5-4 lead and let out a roar of relief after fending off a late fightback from Fritz in the 10th game to win the opening set under the blazing sun on Court One. Zverev turned up the heat again in the next set after Fritz received a medical timeout for a niggling right knee issue after three games, and the 29-year-old celebrated emphatically after seizing a crucial break that left his opponent on the ropes. The crowd erupted in cheers a few moments later when news trickled in that Briton Fery had gone ahead two sets to love on Centre Court and Zverev soon followed suit with a comfortable hold to move further clear as Fritz’s hopes began to fade. Zverev hit a scintillating backhand winner to seal a double break at 4-1 in the third set, which he closed out with minimum fuss to reach his maiden semi-final at the grasscourt major and 12th overall. Kostyuk makes quick work of Paolini to take semi slot Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk made quick work of Italy’s 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini on a sweltering Centre Court to speed into her first Wimbledon semi-final 6-3 6-2 on Wednesday. The 12th seed was a woman in a hurry from the start as she took the opening set in 36 minutes, breaking Paolini to go 3-2 up and then again at 5-3 as temperatures soared over 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit). The 24-year-old, appearing in the Wimbledon singles quarter-finals and on Centre Court for the first time, had lost her last two meetings with her 13th seeded opponent but used her powerful forehand to telling effect in an impressive victory. She broke Paolini again to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, with the Italian not getting a sniff of a break point, and then held serve. With Queen Camilla watching from the Royal Box, the crowd cheered for the Italian underdog but Kostyuk closed out remorselessly on 69 minutes with a second match point on her opponent’s serve. Kostyuk, who will now play ninth-seeded Czech Linda Noskova in the last four on the same court on Thursday, said it was all a dream come true. “Winning here was not even in the plans today, I just wanted to go out, enjoy and put on a good show,” she told the crowd after shaking Paolini’s hand and then doing a pirouette on court to celebrate the win. The semi-final will be the second of her career in a Grand Slam tournament after this year’s French Open, where she lost to eventual winner Mirra Andreeva of Russia.