For around 45 minutes of this unfathomably enormous occasion in Arthur Fery’s otherwise understated career, the second-lowest ranked Wimbledon men’s semi-finalist in the open era handled business supremely well. Faced with tackling the sport’s newest grand slam champion, Alexander Zverev, he served well, gave very few errors away and demonstrated his sweet hand skills and court sense throughout. The one time he lost his serve, he snatched it back with anger. Fery reached the first set tie-break filled with confidence.
But then, in a flash, the match escaped his grasp. Fery just seemed to briefly lose focus at the start, spraying a double fault and then a loose forehand on his first two service points. Suddenly, he was down 0-3. Then 0-5. Then he was sitting on his chair wondering where the set had gone.
