LONDON – Arthur Fery became the first man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals as a wild card in 25 years after the Briton extended his fairy-tale run with a stunning victory against Flavio Cobolli on July 8.

Fery swatted aside French Open finalist Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 in a quarter-final rout that delighted the partisan crowd on Centre Court.

The 23-year-old is the first British wild card to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam in the Open era.

Standing in his way of a place in the July 12 final will be French Open champion Alexander Zverev, who snapped a lengthy losing run against Taylor Fritz with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 quarter-final win.

“It gets better and better every match. It’s incredible. I just can’t believe it,” Fery said.

“I was very nervous beforehand but I just kept going until the finish line. In that last game I felt emotions I have never felt in my life.”

The world No. 114’s astonishing run has him positioned to follow in the footsteps of flamboyant Croat Goran Ivanisevic, who beat Pat Rafter to win Wimbledon as a wild card in 2001.

Incredibly, Fery is just two victories away from emulating Ivanisevic and becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon since Andy Murray in 2016.

He is the third-lowest ranked man since 1985 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals, after world No. 237 Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 and world No. 125 Ivanisevic in 2001.

He is also the first British man to make the last four at Wimbledon since Cameron Norrie in 2022 and only the fifth in the Open era.

“I beat Flavio earlier this year. It was a boost of confidence, even though this was my first time in the quarter-finals,” he said.

“I’m so happy. I’m just going to keep going and see where that takes me.”

Fery’s jaw-dropping rise comes after he had won j...