Arthur Fery ready to embrace Wimbledon crowd as he targets Alexander Zverev upset in semi-final

Arthur Fery has embraced the Wimbledon crowd throughout his incredible run at SW19 and plans to use their support to his advantage when he faces Alexander Zverev in the men’s singles semi-final.

The British wild card is one win away from becoming the second British man in the Open era to reach the Wimbledon final.

Fery battled through back-to-back five-set victories to reach the quarter-finals before delivering another impressive display against the French Open runner-up Flavio Cobolli, beating the Italian in straight sets on Wednesday to book his place in the semi-finals.

Standing in his way now is the biggest challenge of his career. He’ll take on the French Open champion Zverev, with Fery aiming to become just the second British man after Andy Murray to reach the Wimbledon men’s singles final in the Open era.

The 23-year-old knows the support from the stands could play a huge role when he steps onto Centre Court again, and he is determined to use the home crowd as an advantage.

“I have the crowd behind me here, which is a huge help, especially on Centre Court, when you have some many people pushing me,” said Fery.

“I’ve been trying to use the crowd to my advantage in important moments, just to add a little pressure maybe to the opponents. I’ll try and do that again at moment that feel right on Friday.”

Fery has appeared increasingly comfortable with the spotlight throughout his Wimbledon campaign, feeding off the energy from supporters rather than being overwhelmed by the occasion.

His run has been particularly impressive given his previous Grand Slam record. Before this tournament, his best performances at the majors were second-round appearances at the Australian Open earlier this year and Wimbledon 12 months ago.

After a difficult start for British players at SW19, with only four of the 19 home competitors in the men’s and women’s singles draws winning their opening matches, Fery has provided a major boost for the home crowd.

The world number 114 says he has attempted to block out much of the outside noise and focus purely on his own preparation ahead of the biggest match of his career.

“I’m ready for it. I have nothing to lose. I’m just going to go out there and just put my game on the court, do what I’ve done, believe in myself. We’ll see where that takes me,” he said.

Fery added that he will approach the semi-final as another match rather than allowing the significance of the occasion to affect him.

Zverev, meanwhile, expects a lively atmosphere on Centre Court but insists he is ready to deal with the challenge of facing a home favourite.

The German admitted he has experienced plenty of difficult home crowds throughout his career and believes he knows how to handle the pressure.

“I’m almost 30 years old. I’ve been on tour for long enough. I feel like I’ve seen the most hostile crowds, I’ve seen tough crowds, I’ve seen unfair crowds as well,” he said.

“I feel like I should know how to handle it, I’ve learned how to handle it. I’m okay with it. I always feel like the English crowd here, especially in London, they’re always quite fair. Yes, they can be loud, they can be cheerful, but that’s okay.

“I don’t mind it at all. I just look forward to a tough challenge in the semi-finals of a slam.”

The German will also be looking closely at Fery’s previous matches as he prepares his game plan, but insists he will not overcomplicate the occasion.

“The first time I watched him play was actually in Australia. He beat Cobolli in the first round. I was very impressed back then already,” said Zverev.

“He has a very clean technique and very clean groundstrokes. I thought he was a very good tennis player already back then.

“Of course, it’s maybe a surprise a little bit that he’s in the semi-finals. But I think he deserves it. The wins that he had, the way he fought back in a couple of those matches, is great to see. It’s a great story.”

With the backing of Centre Court behind him and nothing to lose, Fery will look to produce another memorable performance as he attempts to continue one of the greatest Wimbledon runs by a British player in recent years.