Fery fairytale rolls on as Briton powers into Wimbledon semis

LONDON, July 8 : Britain's Arthur Fery became only the fourth wildcard to reach the men's singles semi-finals at a Grand Slam as his dream Wimbledon run continued with a 6-4 7-6(4) 6-0 drubbing of Italian ninth seed Flavio Cobolli on Wednesday.

French Open runner-up Cobolli was the highest-ranked player the 23-year-old Fery has faced during the tournament, but on a sweltering Centre Court he produced another fearless performance to outclass his opponent.

Fery is the first wildcard to reach the men's singles semi-finals at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic memorably won the title in 2001 and his bid to emulate the big-serving Croat will continue against second seed Alexander Zverev.

"It seems to get better and better every match, I can't believe it," a stunned-looking Fery said on court minutes after ending the contest with an ace.

"That last game I felt emotions that I haven't experienced before in my life."

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Born in France to French parents, raised within walking distance of Wimbledon and a graduate of California's Stanford University, Fery arrived at the tournament ranked 114th in the world and largely unknown to the wider British public. His exploits over the past fortnight have changed that.

His victory means he is only the fifth British man in the professional era to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, joining Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Roger Taylor and Cameron Norrie and he will be the country's new number one next week.

He was applauded by Britain's Queen Camilla from the Royal Box and had been watched by Kate, the Princess of Wales, in an earlier round.

Fery beat a sick Cobolli in the first round of this year's Australian Open — only his second Grand Slam match win after reaching the second round of