Zverev completes the set, downs a defiant Fery to reach first Wimbledon final
Alexander Zverev completed a rare Grand Slam sweep with a 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 win over Arthur Fery to reach his first Wimbledon final, setting up a title clash with Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic. Zverev paid tribute to the British wild card afterward, calling him a future star of the ATP Tour.
Arthur Fery and Alexander Zverev, Wimbledon 2026 | © Juergen Hasenkopf/Psnewz
No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany reached his first Wimbledon final on Friday, seeing off British wild card Arthur Fery 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 in the tournament’s opening men’s singles semifinal.
The result completes Zverev’s set of Grand Slam finals – only the 13th player in the Open era to achieve the feat, and just the fourth to seal it at Wimbledon, after Ivan Lendl, Jim Courier and Jannik Sinner. It also makes the German the fifth man from his country to reach a Wimbledon final, after Boris Becker, Gottfried Von Cramm, Wilhelm Bungert and Michael Stich, arriving at the tenth attempt – level with Kevin Anderson for the second-longest wait for a first Wimbledon final in the Open era, behind only Marin Cilic’s eleven tries.
Zverev will sit at world No. 2 for Monday’s list, with a gain of 1,290 points that lifts him level with his 2022 career-high and past Carlos Alcaraz, who slips to No. 3 having not played since a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open in April sidelined him for the entire clay and grass swing.
Despite lapses in concentration, Zverev was overwhelmingly superior, and Fery – for all his bravery and pumping his fist to the very end – could never truly change the direction of the match. The 23-year-old will slip to a career-high-adjacent No. 36 on Monday, still the best Grand Slam result of his career.
Zverev credited a Centre Court crowd that was overwhelmingly behind his opponent. “I know that 99.9 percent of the stadium wanted Arthur to win, but it was still such an incredible atmosphere, and such a fair crowd,” he said. “I enjoyed every second of it.
Zverev – Fery : 7-0 in the tie-break
Zverev broke immediately in Fery’s second service game to lead 3-1, only to lose his own serve straight back, and the pair traded breaks to 3-3. Both struggled for range in a scratchy set – Zverev finishing with 18 unforced errors and 18 winners, Fery countering with five winners as he grew into the occasion – before a tiebreak that got away from the Briton completely: Zverev reeled off seven straight points to close it out with a forehand winner after 49 minutes.
The German pressed home his advantage in the second set, breaking immediately and racing to 5-1, winning almost twice as many points as Fery overall – 31 to 16 – an unusually lopsided share at this level, while dropping only three points behind his own serve.
Fery found some defensive resistance in the third, saving a break point at 4-2 with a string of committed rallies, but a loose Zverev service game handed the German the cushion he needed to serve out the match 6-4, to a standing ovation.
Zverev was generous in defeat’s shadow, praising Fery as “an unbelievable player” who is “just at the beginning of his career.” “I think he’s going to play on this tour for 15-plus years and have great results,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “I really think he’s going to do amazing things in this sport.”
Zverev will meet either Jannik Sinner – who beat him in the 2025 Australian Open final, their only previous meeting on this stage – or Novak Djokovic, whom he has never faced in a Grand Slam final, on Sunday. A win would make him the third man in the Open era, after Andy Murray and Daniil Medvedev, to reach the final of the major immediately following his maiden Grand Slam title, and the first to convert it into a second. He is also guaranteed to rise to No. 2 in Monday’s rankings, equalling his career-high.
