The Wimbledon boy living a dream that defies belief

LONDON, July 8 : If it were a movie script, Arthur Fery's remarkable Wimbledon adventure would probably never have made it to the big screen because it seemed too far-fetched to be believable.

A 23-year-old who grew up within walking distance of Centre Court. Ranked 114th in the world. A wildcard entrant with only two previous Grand Slam match wins. Wimbledon semi-finalist?

Pull the other one.

In reality, that is only half of this quite extraordinary sporting tale that could yet have a conclusion that would rival anything in the annals of Wimbledon history.

Fery will face French Open champion and second seed Alexander Zverev on Friday. Win that and he would play in the final on Sunday on his 24th birthday with the chance to emulate Goran Ivanisevic who in 2001 became the only player to win the Wimbledon singles title as a wildcard.

CONGRATULATIONS FROM THE QUEEN

There is still a long way to go, of course, and Zverev will be a sizeable step up in class from ninth seed Flavio Cobolli who Fery dispatched 6-4 7-6(4) 6-0 on a steamy Centre Court on Wednesday to become only the fifth British man in the professional era to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals.

French-born Fery was watched by Britain's Queen Camilla from the front row of the Royal Box on Wednesday and had Princess Kate cheering him on last week against Otto Virtanen.

"The queen, she was waiting for me at the end of the match. 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'," Fery told reporters.

Tennis royalty in the shape of eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer nodded his approval during Fery's five-set cliffhanger against Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16.

Against Cobolli, Fery