LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - British wildcard Arthur Fery turns 24 on the day of the Wimbledon men's singles final on Sunday and, quite unbelievably, he could yet spend his birthday on Centre Court.
The France-born, London-raised player made his debut on Centre Court on Monday and for the second round in succession he came through a five-set cliff-hanger to reach the last eight.
His 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6(7) victory over fellow wildcard Grigor Dimitrov in front of Wimbledon maestro Roger Federer in the Royal Box set up a clash with world number 10 Italian Flavio Cobolli whom he beat at this year's Australian Open.
Fery, who played college tennis at Stanford, has flown the home flag almost single-handedly during the Championships after 15 of the 19 British singles players involved lost in round one.
His third-round victory over Zizou Bergs on Saturday saw him hit back from two sets to one and a double break down in the fourth to win the longest match in the tournament so far despite suffering with a succession of nosebleeds.
He was at it again on Monday as the classy 35-year-old former world number three Dimitrov bore down on victory, leading 4-3 with a break in the fourth set, only for Fery to produce a stunning fightback in front of a soccer-style crowd still giddy with euphoria after England's World Cup last-16 win over Mexico.
The roar that reverberated when he clinched match point was as loud as anything heard at Wimbledon for years.
"I can only speak from my experience today but it's good to see British sport doing well on a global level," Fery said of a remarkable day of sporting theatre that began in the early hours - British time - in Mexico City's Azteca Stadium.
"What I experienced today, I'm really going to cherish it for the rest of my life. Who knows, maybe I will never, ever get to experience that ever again. It's the first time I'm playing on this stage. Who knows, that might be the first and last time.
"Hopefully not."
Fery's stunning run has surprised Wimbledon fans and perhaps even himself, but men's sixth seed Taylor Fritz saw it coming.
The American said he practised with Fery before the 2024 World Tour Finals and was impressed with what he saw.
"I was playing well. I made finals of Turin the next week. I felt pretty good about my game. He was beating me, like, every day. I was like, this guy's really good. This guy can play.
"He had a good forehand for his size. Unbelievable serve. Like I said, we were playing sets, baseline games. He was cooking me pretty consistently for the week."
Fery began the week ranked 114th in the world but is now inside the top 70 and rising.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
