Wimbledon 2026: Arthur Fery could not imitate Andy Murray as the legend held by Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals | Tennis News
Britain’s Arthur Fery lost in straight sets to Germany’s Alexander Zverev as his Wimbledon legend ended in the semi-finals.
Wild-card Fery was looking to become the second British player after Andy Murray to reach the Wimbledon men’s singles final in tennis’ Open era, which began in 1968, but narrowly lost to Zverev, who will play in his fifth Grand Slam final on Sunday.
The French Open champion took time to figure out how to beat Fery but used her natural, aggressive groundstrokes and big serves to defeat the British No 1 7-6 (7-0) 6-2 6-4.
“Arthur Fery [is] unbelievable player. I think he will be an adult on our tour,” said Zverev, who will face either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday.
“I think he will play in it for 15 years and more and he will have good results. This is just the beginning of his career. I think he will do amazing things in this game.”
Fery is set to climb to a career high of 36 in the ATP Rankings next week, having entered Wimbledon ranked 114th, and overtaking Cameron Norrie to become Britain’s No.1.
His straight sets win over French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals suggested the 23-year-old could be among the sport’s best players for years to come.
How Zverev ended Fery’s Wimbledon dream
Fery said he would use the crowd “to my advantage” and showed no upset as he faced Zverev in a long first-round match.
But Zverev made the first break to take a 3-1 lead as he punished unforced errors from Fery, before the 23-year-old quickly fought back to make it 3-3.
Neither player was able to generate another break point opportunity so a break was needed and Zverev came out with a game and ball to not drop a break point and claim the first set.
Zverev showed why he is the reigning French Open champion
Fery never fully recovered and was broken early in the second set after a point was forced to be replayed due to the ball boy collecting the ball at 0-30 down. It coincided with Zverev finding a nice rhythm on his forehand and increasing his groundstroke speed.
Zverev’s 3-1 lead soon turned into 5-1 as he didn’t face a break point on his way to taking the second set.
The crowd’s energy was running out and it showed on the field when Fery went 0-30 in his second game of service. Although he recovered to hold, he was unable to repeat that in his next service game and was beaten 4-2.
Zverev held his own against the Center Court crowd cheering for Fery
It looked as if Zverev would break for the second time at 0-40 but Fery, urged by the crowd, saved three break points and went back. However, Fery could not back down and Zverev advanced to the Wimbledon final.
“It’s amazing. This has always been a Grand Slam I’ve fought, and suddenly I’m in the Wimbledon final,” Zverev said.
“I’m incredibly happy and proud of everyone involved. We still have one more game to play on Sunday, and that’s the focus.”
