Serving to stay in the biggest match of his life, as the shadows began to lengthen across Wimbledon’s Court 18 and fans climbed onto fold-out seats on the balcony and clambered onto benches to look down below, Arthur Fery was suddenly ground to a halt. A third nosebleed of the match stopped Fery in his tracks and forced him to think. He had been battling Belgium’s Zizou Bergs for over four hours for a place in the last-16, scrapping from the brink after being a double-break down in the fourth set and a single break down in the fifth. Fery trailed 4-1 in both sets, but the deeper a hole the British wildcard faced, the tougher he fought, and the higher he climbed.
Once again, Fery managed to block out the distractions, with his epic 2-6 7-5 2-6 7-6 (3) 7-6 (10/5) over Bergs ensuring there will be a British player in the fourth round of Wimbledon. With his victory, Fery will enter the world’s top 100 for the first time. His decision to remain on the bearpit of Court 18, with its capacity for around 750 fans, rather than one of Wimbledon’s bigger showcourts, was justified as he whipped up a raucous atmosphere. “No words for it, honestly,’ he said. “With that support, it is unbelievable. I requested to play on this court and the club made it happen which was awesome. I love this court and had a great time on it.”
