Wild card contender Arthur Fery reaches Wimbledon quarter-finals

Arthur Fery staged a second consecutive remarkable fightback to become, perhaps, Britain’s most unlikely Wimbledon quarter-finalist.

The 23-year-old, who also lives in Wimbledon, entered the tournament as a wild card ranked 114, with limited success at grand slam level.

Now he has won two grand slam matches in a row, both from seemingly hopeless positions, after beating former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov.

Having trailed Zizou Bergs 4-1 in both the fourth and fifth sets on Saturday, Fery was twice a break down in the fourth here but roused himself magnificently to set up a clash with ninth seed Flavio Cobolli, who he beat at the Australian Open.

After all the doom and gloom surrounding British tennis to start the fortnight, Fery’s run has been quite the plot twist, and the Centre Court crowd roared on their new hero.

His victory makes him the first British wild card to reach the quarter-finals at a grand slam in the open era, while he joins Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Cameron Norrie, Roger Taylor and Greg Rusedski as home male members of the Wimbledon last-eight club.

When Dimitrov’s final backhand hit the net after three hours and 55 minutes, Fery looked to his family and team in the stands in disbelief.

Arthur Fery of Great Britain during his Gentlemen’s Singles match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. / Credit: PA

“I’ve no words right now,” he said. “It’s incredibly tough to put words to what I’ve just felt on a tennis court in front of all you guys. The support was phenomenal.

“First time on this court, five sets against an absolute legend of the game. I grew up five minutes from here, I grew up coming to watch matches on this court.”

Turning to Roger Federer, Fery added: “We’ve got probably the greatest of all time watching from the front row of the Royal Box. Now playing here in front of all you guys and winning, it’s unbelievable.”