For once it was a short day at Wimbledon. No services of either the Centre Court or Court 1 roof were required.
In other words, it was a much different story from what transpired on Tuesday — when Novak Djokovic outlasted Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-setter that lasted five hours and 15 minutes before ending just prior to the 11:00 pm curfew. On Wednesday, the two quarterfinal matches combined took up less time than Djokovic vs. Auger-Aliassime.
On Centre Court, the improbable run of British wild card Arthur Fery continued with a 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-0 victory over Flavio Cobolli. Fery, who also beat Cobolli in straight sets at the Australian Open earlier this year, is just the second man to reach the semifinals at the All-England Club as a wild card. Goran Ivanisevic accomplished that feat — and won the entire tournament — 25 years ago.
“I knew beforehand that he was the only wild card to ever win a Grand Slam,” Fery said of Ivanisevic. “So, yeah, it’s obviously an incredible story. I’ve watched the highlights of the final before. I’m not going to speculate too much or think ahead of what that could be like. I’m just going to keep thinking ahead about my match on Friday, and then we’ll see how it goes.”
Standing in the 23-year-old’s way of the final is French Open champion Alexander Zverev, who defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 at almost the exact same moment on Court 1. With Fritz dealing with a knee issue, Zverev — playing phenomenal tennis in his own right — did not drop serve a single time.
“(I’m) happy to be in the semifinals,” said the 29-year-old German, who ended a seven-match losing streak against Fritz. “I think especially against someone like Taylor, who I’ve struggled with over the past two years — it’s been a pretty one-sided tennis match that always went his way. (I’m) very pleased with how I played. To be in the semifinals is great.”
“I don’t want to take away from how well he’s playing,” Fritz commented. “I’m not saying the result would have been any different. He was playing very aggressive, doing a lot of things that are big improvements to his game. He’s changing direction a lot with the backhand. He’s serving such high percentage (and in) good spots. Really pulling the trigger with the forehand.
“It would have been an incredibly tough match (even at 100 percent). I’m just really sad that I didn’t get the chance to get into it. I felt like just because I was thinking about the knee, my focus was kind of all over the place.”
Djokovic, who is bidding for an eighth title at the All-England Club, will face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in Friday’s other semifinal.
nice one, Fery
Simply atrocious by Flavio.