Context-free soundbite: “He was hitting backhands like 50 Cent was throwing out Opening Day pitches.”
The Wimbledon semifinals are set, and Andy and JW preview the matchups and provide the behind-the-scenes intel from Day 10 at SW19. They saw the Queen of England photobomb Arthur Fery and heard from Roger Federer about that viral photo from the Royal Box yesterday.
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The Rundown
Fery Punches His Ticket. No one has pinched Arthur Fery [WC] yet. Flavio Cobolli [9] didn’t come close today, losing 7-6, 7-5, 6-0. Cobolli misfired off the ground a lot, and Fery continued to play his brand of solid, all-court, soft-hands tennis with confidence, winning 22 of 29 points at the net. “I felt a bit more confident playing someone I had played before on a big stage,” Fery said, referring to his win over Cobolli in the first round of the Australian Open this year. When Cobolli was asked about that match two days ago, he said, “I was sick. It didn’t count.” The excuse didn’t age well.
If Fery’s run is starting to feel like destiny, consider this: his birthday falls on championship Sunday.
Fery is the fourth wild card in history to make the semifinals of a Slam.
He is the second-lowest-ranked semifinalist ever at Wimbledon. Goran Ivanisevic was ranked 11 spots lower when he won the title in 2001.
He had six Tour-level wins before Wimbledon. He has five here.
Fery is up to No. 36 in the live rankings and will jump to 26 if he beats Alexander Zverev on Friday.
He will be the new British No. 1 on Monday.
As he has progressed through the draw, he has tried to mimic Emma Raducanu’s attitude at the 2021 US Open. (The Times)
Zverev, Unbroken. Taylor Fritz [6]’s knee pain returned early in his match against Alexander Zverev [2], but it might not have mattered. The German’s serve was untouchable in his businesslike 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win. He landed 77% of his first serves, backed up his second serve at a 75% clip (to Fritz’s 33%) and never faced a break point. Fritz had more aces (17 to 14) and winners (31 to 29), but too many errors (28 to 15). Zverev, who is into his first Wimbledon semifinal, said the match was more challenging than it appeared.
🎤 Alexander Zverev
“Nothing on a tennis court is easy. Maybe if I played my 5-year-old daughter. It’s in the back of your mind when you haven’t beaten an opponent in two years.”
Czech Mark. Linda Noskova [9] is the latest in a long line of Czech women to make a name for herself at Wimbledon. The 21-year-old is following in the footsteps of Martina Navratilova, Petra Kvitova, Barbora Krejcikova and Barbora Strycova as a Wimbledon semifinalist. By beating Elise Mertens [25] 6-3, 7-5, she became the youngest first-time semifinalist at Wimbledon since Kvitova in 2010. Noskova won both the singles and doubles titles in Berlin two weeks ago, and her big-hitting variety is lethally sharp going into the last four.
Power Play. Marta Kostyuk [12]’s first match on Centre Court lasted just over an hour. She was pushed to deuce only once and didn’t face a break point in her 6-3, 6-2 win over Jasmine Paolini [13]. The 24-year-old is 20-for-21 since mid-April and is one win from becoming the first Ukrainian player to make a major final.
4
First-time women’s Wimbledon semifinalists, a first in the Open Era
Coco Gauff, Linda Noskova, Karolina Muchova and Marta Kostyuk have the same amount of experience at this stage of Wimbledon—none. The same is true of two of the men’s semifinalists, Alexander Zverev and Arthur Fery. Three players are going to reach their first Wimbledon final this year.
Tiebreak Trivia
Arthur Fery played three years for Stanford University, which was represented in the 1979, 1980 and 1981 Wimbledon men’s finals. By who?
Quick Hits
Grigor Dimitrov posted a love letter to Wimbledon on Instagram. If you were pulling for him, he felt it.
One of John McEnroe’s smashed Wilson Pro Staffs is on the auction block. We cannot be more serious. (The Independent)
The Royal Box lived up to its name today. Here’s the aristocratic roll call. (The Independent)
Ben Shelton, Jessica Pegula, Jack Draper and Zheng Qinwen have accepted wild cards into the Mubadala DC Open at the end of July. This field is ridiculous.
The votes are in for Served’s Caption This photo contest on Instagram ⬇️
🍿 Day 11 Matches
Coco Gauff [7] vs. Karolina Muchova [10]
Linda Noskova [9] vs. Marta Kostyuk [12]
Harri Heliovaara/Henry Patten [1] vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic/Thanasi Kokkanakis
Mate Pavic/Marcelo Arevalo [6] vs. Tim Putz/Kevin Krawietz [7]
Katerina Siniakova/Taylor Townsend [1] vs. Kristina Mladenovic/Guo Hanyu
Ingrid Neel/Giuliana Olmos vs. Xu Yifan/Jiang Xinyu
🏆 Mixed Doubles: Jelena Ostapenko/Marcelo Arevalo [2] vs. Storm Hunter/Marc Polmans
Tokito Oda [1] vs. Takuya Miki
Alfie Hewett/Gordon Reid [1] vs. Stephane Houdet/Zhenxu Ji
Diede de Groot [1] vs. Aniek Van Koot
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I like how everything in WTA is always unpredictable.
Maria is going to win this hands down.