Arthur Fery added another extraordinary chapter to his Wimbledon fairy tale by crushing Flavio Cobolli to reach the semi-finals.
It is 25 years since Goran Ivanisevic famously became the first wild card to win the men’s singles title, and Fery is now only two wins away from matching that historic achievement.
Having battled through deciding tie-breaks in comeback wins against Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov, 114th-ranked Fery completely outplayed ninth seed Cobolli on Centre Court, winning 6-4 7-6 (4) 6-0.
Among the milestones for the 23-year-old was a first win against a top-10 player, with Cobolli having reached his maiden grand slam final last month at the French Open.
He is just the fifth home man in the open era to make the last four here and by some distance the most improbable, joining Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Roger Taylor and, most recently, Cameron Norrie – who he will overtake next week to become British number one.
