The Princess of Wales has congratulated British wildcard Arthur
Fery after he made history by reaching the Wimbledon men’s singles
semi-finals.
Catherine, who is Patron of the All England Lawn Tennis Club,
described the 23-year-old’s achievement as “fantastic” after he
became the first British wildcard in the Open Era to reach the last
four at SW19.
Writing on social media following his straight-sets victory over
Italy’s Flavio Cobolli, the Princess said: “A memorable day at
Wimbledon. Congratulations to Arthur Fery on becoming the first
British wildcard to reach the Gentlemen’s Singles semi-finals in
the Open Era, a fantastic achievement that has inspired so many.
Wishing you the very best for the next round.”
Fery, who grew up just 10 minutes from the All England Club,
produced an outstanding display on Centre Court to defeat the ninth
seed 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 and book a semi-final clash with second
seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.
The Queen was among those watching the remarkable victory from
the Royal Box after making a surprise appearance at the
Championships. Dressed in a turquoise chiffon dress by Anna
Valentine, Camilla joined the Centre Court crowd in giving the
British player a standing ovation after he sealed victory with an
ace.
An emotional Fery admitted afterwards that he was still coming
to terms with his achievement.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “It’s incredible playing on
Centre Court for the second time, the second win.”
Asked how he would prepare for the biggest match of his career,
the world No. 114 replied: “I don’t know as I’ve never been in this
position before. I’m just going to keep going. I’ve been doing
great for the last 10 days, so I’m just going to keep going and see
where that takes me.”
After clinching match point, Fery collapsed onto the Centre
Court grass before embracing his opponent at the net, as spectators
rose to applaud his historic triumph. His parents watched the
victory alongside actress Elle Fanning and adventurer Bear
Grylls.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer also congratulated the British
star, calling his run from wildcard entrant to Wimbledon
semi-finalist “a brilliant performance on the biggest stage.”
Fery is only the second wildcard in Wimbledon history to reach
the men’s singles semi-finals and now stands just two victories
away from matching Goran Ivanisevic’s famous 2001 triumph as the
only wildcard to win the Gentlemen’s Singles title.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalcentral.co.uk ’
