Arthur Fery will carry British hopes into week two of Wimbledon after clinching a spot in the Last 16 with an epic 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (4-10) win over Zizou Bergs
British wildcard Arthur Fery ensured his dream run at Wimbledon will carry over on into the second week – and left his opponent rattled during his latest epic win.
The 23-year-old has carried British hopes in the men’s draw with Jack Draper forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury and has emerged as one of the great SW19 stories of the opening week after forging an unlikely path through to the Last 16.
His victory over Zizou Bergs was not without drama as he fought back from a set down twice to clinch a memorable 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (4-10) win on Court 18.
And there was even additional drama as Bergs approached the umpire to complain about Fery’s failure to apologise for net cords after one of the Brit’s shots hit the net en route to his opponent, who duly slammed his return into the net. The BBC also suggested that Bergs seemed to unhappy with Fery for celebrating points a touch early.
Bergs raged: “He keeps shouting. It’s zero fair play. How many times does he hit the net and never says sorry!”
Fery brushed off Bergs’ fury and continued to play with class and composure as he saw out a final set tie-break before collapsing to the floor in joy. And there seemed to be no issue after the match as the two players embraced before Fery continued to celebrate a huge victory.
Fery becomes the first British wildcard to reach the second week of Wimbledon since 1993 and will face either Grigor Dimitrov or Matteo Berrettini in the next round.
He was speechless after demolishing Zizous in a decisive tie-break, telling BBC Sport: “No words for it, honestly. I don’t know what is going on right now. It will take time to digest it. So many first times after this match. I’m just so glad.”
“[I] just tried to stay in the match, just backing myself as a competitor,” he added when he was asked how deep he had to dig to prevail after falling behind.
“I was down for pretty much the whole match, managed to scramble back from two breaks and 4-1 in the fifth, and just tried to put up as much of a fight as I could.”
