Arthur Fery fuelled by belief as he faces Alexander Zverev in Wimbledon semis

Belief that he can mix it with the best has carried England's Arthur Fery to the Wimbledon semi-finals and the young player will keep that mentality when he faces Alexander Zverev on Friday.

Fery began the tournament as a wild card ranked 114, but five wins later finds himself in the rarefied air of the last four with only French Open champion Zverev, world number one Jannik Sinner and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic for company.

Logic and history suggests Fery should not be there, but the 23-year-old has embraced Centre Court as his stage and is relishing the chance to take on second seed Zverev.

“Zverev is a step up again,” he said. “I’m ready for it. I have nothing to lose. I’m just going to go out there and just put my game on the court, do what I’ve done, believe in myself. We’ll see where that takes me.”

Fery is only the second wild card to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals after Goran Ivanisevic, whose famous run to the title in 2001 came a year before Fery was born.

But Ivanisevic was a three-time former finalist who had slipped down the rankings and Fery’s achievement as an up-and-comer making such a breakthrough is unprecedented in the men’s game.

Fery was not on the practice schedule at Wimbledon on Thursday, with the local resident admitting after his brilliant straight-sets victory over Flavio Cobolli that his run, which included fifth-set tie-break wins against Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov, has taken its toll.

He said: “I feel mentally tired, physically. That’s been the case for the past five days.

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“That’s also something that’s really grown my confidence. I now feel like I can play even when I’m tired, even when I’m stressed. In any