Fery caps a dismal British fortnight with the comeback of his life

Englishman Arthur Fery lifted a bleak Wimbledon for the home players on Saturday, the wild card recovering from a break down in each of the last two sets to beat Belgian Zizou Bergs 2-6, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) and reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

It was a rare bright day in a fortnight that had offered British tennis little to celebrate. Jack Draper had withdrawn before his opening match with an arm injury, Emma Raducanu had pulled out before the tournament with an ankle stress fracture, and the home challenge had thinned further as the early rounds unfolded.

Against that backdrop, Fery, ranked No 114, produced the escape of the tournament, twice hauling himself back from 4-1 down – once in the fourth set, once in the fifth – to keep his run alive over more than four hours.

The 23-year-old, playing five minutes from where he grew up, described a day of firsts. “A lot of first times today,” Fery said after the match. “First five-setter, longest match I’ve ever played, first time breaking into the top 100, first second week in a Slam, all at home. It’s a great story for me.”

I knew he maybe could get a little shaky when he was getting close to winning the match.

He put the recovery down to sheer stubbornness. “I was just trying to back my fighting spirit and use that to my advantage,” he said of the twin comebacks from 4-1 down. “I knew he maybe could get a little shaky when he was getting close to winning the match.”

The physical demands were severe. “My legs were really feeling it at the end of the second and into the third,” Fery said. “Then with the adrenaline I kept going. At the end I was buzzing, still running for balls.” He credited a raucous Court N°18 for carrying him over the line in the decider, even as he kept his own emotions in check. “At the end of the fifth, the crowd played a huge part,” he said.

“I’m not the kind of player to interact with the crowd too much during the match. if I start giving too much energy out, it’s going to affect my tennis.” He traced the breakthrough to a fuller grass-court preparation. “I’ve played a lot of grass-court matches leading up to Wimbledon this year. That helps with confidence, with match fitness, and my ranking was higher, so I felt in my place.”

Fery had reached the third round with wins over Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen (5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-3) and Bosnian Damir Dzumhur (3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1). Bergs, ranked No 37, had beaten Portuguese Jaime Faria (7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3) and French seed No 27 Ugo Humbert (6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3) to reach the last 32, but could not close out a match he twice led.

Fery will next face Italian Matteo Berrettini or Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, both former top-10 players staging comebacks of their own, for a place in the quarter-finals.