British wildcard Fery on playing Zverev for place in Wimbledon final: “I have nothing to lose”
The 23-year-old wildcard will become the new British No 1 and rise to at least world No 36 after his stunning Wimbledon run – and says he has nothing to lose against reigning Grand Slam champion Alexander Zverev in Friday’s semi-final. He is the first British man to reach the last four at the All England Club since Andy Murray in 2016.
Arthur Féry, Wimbledon 2026 | © PsNewz
British wildcard Arthur Fery says he will have nothing to lose when he takes on Alexander Zverev for a place in the Wimbledon final on Friday.
The 23-year-old continued his fairytale run at Wimbledon by reaching the semi-finals on Wednesday, knocking out Flavio Cobolli of Italy in straight sets.
Fery had won just two grand slam matches before this year’s Wimbledon but followed up his victory over Grigor Dimitrov with another brilliant showing to set up a clash with Zverev.
“Zverev is a step up again (but) I’m ready for it,” said Fery, who is set to rise to No 36 in the rankings after this week and become the new British No 1. “I have nothing to lose. I’m just going to go out there, just put my game on the court, do what I’ve done, believe in myself. We’ll see where that takes me.
“I’ve always believed in myself and believed that I could be a top player in the world. Obviously a semifinalist of Wimbledon is something else. I’ve taken it match by match. I haven’t looked ahead. I’ve just played every match as it is. Yeah, here I am.”
Yeah, the Queen, she was waiting for me at the end of the match!
Fery was watched by tennis royalty and British royalty as former champion Stefan Edberg graced the Royal Box together with Queen Camilla.
“Yeah, the Queen, she was waiting for me at the end of the match,” Fery said nonchalantly. “She congratulated me. I told her how much of an honour it was for me to play in front of her. She just said, Congratulations, keep going.
“I told her it was my birthday on Sunday, so it would be great to play the Wimbledon final on my birthday.”
The first since Ivanisevic in 2001
Fery is the first wildcard to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic, who won the title in 2001.
“I’ve never met him,” Fery said. “I knew beforehand that he was the only wildcard to ever win a Grand Slam. So yeah, I mean, it’s obviously an incredible story. I’ve watched the highlights of the final before.
“I’m not going to speculate too much or think ahead of what that could be like. I’m just going to keep thinking ahead about my match on Friday, and then we’ll see how it goes.”
