Wimbledon umpire Arnaud Gabas told off the Centre Court crowd for popping champagne bottles during points as the interruptions led to double faults from both Arthur Fery and Flavio Cobolli in their quarter-final.
With the 24-year-old Cobolli serving to stay in the first set, down 5-4 and at 30-30, a loud pop from the release of a champagne cork echoed around Centre Court. The umpire Gabas broke the tension of a crucial game by telling fans: “Enjoy your drinks, but please refrain from opening champagne bottles during play.”
Cobolli then double faulted, bringing up set point for the British wildcard Fery, with a forehand miss from Cobolli handing Fery the only break of the first set.
Despite the umpire’s warning, a second pop from a champagne bottle soon followed during Fery’s next service game at the start of the second set, leading to a double fault from Fery as Cobolli broke for the first time.
This is Fery’s second match on Centre Court following his five-set win over Grigor Dimitrov on Monday. While Fery played in front of Roger Federer in the previous round, he walked out to face actual royalty with the Queen taking her seat in the front row of the Royal Box.
Fery was surprised by the Queen before the match, with Her Majesty sneaking up behind Fery to wish him luck as he waited under the iconic stairs of Centre Court and then shaking both players by the hand.
The 23-year-old Fery, ranked 114th in the world, is the lowest-ranked quarter-finalist at SW19 in 14 years and the first British wildcard to reach the last eight, as well as just the sixth British man to reach that stage in the Open era.
He has achieved that milestone in remarkable fashion, winning two match tiebreaks and twice coming back from two sets and breaks down to complete superb comebacks and keep home hopes of an improbable fairytale alive.
Standing in his way is recent French Open runner-up Cobolli, who Fery beat – albeit when the Italian was physically hampered – at the Australian Open in January.
