Zverev ends Fery run to await Sinner or Djokovic in final

French Open champion Alexander Zverev comprehensively ended Arthur Fery's Wimbledon run to reach Sunday's men's singles final.

British wild card Fery has been one of the stories of the fortnight with his run to the last four as an unheralded 23-year-old ranked 114.

But Zverev, the grand slam monkey finally off his back following his success in Paris, was a significant step up from any of Fery's previous opponents and the second seed powered his way to a 7-6 (0) 6-2 6-4 victory.

Zverev becomes the first German man since Boris Becker in 1995 to make the final here, while he joins the select group of players to have reached the trophy match at each grand slam.

"It's amazing," Zverev said of his achievement. "This grand slam has always been the one I struggled with the most, now all of a sudden I'm in the final of Wimbledon. Incredibly happy, incredibly proud, but we’ve got one more match to go on Sunday.

"Arthur is an unbelievable player. I think he’s going to be a senior citizen on our tour because I think he’s going to play for 15 years plus and I really think he’s going to do amazing things in this sport."

This was a true David vs Goliath encounter, with Zverev not just towering over his opponent metaphorically thanks to his vastly superior tennis CV, but also literally.

The 29-year-old, who will climb above Carlos Alcaraz to become world number two on Monday, stands 6ft 6in tall compared to Fery’s somewhat generous 5ft 9in, and the challenge was all too clear as the pair walked out onto Centre Court.

Fery has been defying the odds all fortnight, prevailing in fifth-set tie-breaks after improbable comebacks against Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov and then playing the match of his life to swat aside ninth seed Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals.

He was just the fifth British man in the open era to reach the last four at Wimbledon, with only Andy Murray going on to make the final.

Cobolli pushed Zverev to five sets in the final at Roland Garros a month ago, while the German had never been at home on grass, raising hopes another miracle could somehow be conjured up.

The crowd were ready to play their role and cheered heartily when Fery got on the board in the third point of the match.

It did not take long for Zverev to break through, opening up a 3-1 lead, but back came Fery to level, a brilliant dinked backhand setting up two break points before the second seed sent a forehand over the baseline.

Fery complained to umpire Marijana Veljovic over what he perceived as a missed let call – the same issue that had riled up first-round opponent Damir Dzumhur – but he did not allow it to distract him.

The Wimbledon resident kept pace through the rest of the set and could take confidence into the tie-break having won all five he had played this fortnight, but he double-faulted on the second point and things went downhill from there.

Zverev strode back to his chair and began to play with a freedom that must have made Fery feel like a spectator at times.

The German’s huge serve, which he sends down with a consistency few of his peers can match, is an obvious weapon but his whip-crack ground strokes are just as potent and it was his sometimes dodgy forehand that was doing a lot of the damage.

Fery was unfortunate that an over-eager ball boy interrupted a point at 0-30 in the third game of the second set, although Zverev may well have hit a winner anyway, and a break of serve was quickly followed by another that all but ended the set.

Fery had been on court for nearly 16 and a half hours in making it to the last four, three and a half hours more than Zverev, and fatigue may well have been a factor, with his shots lacking the vim that had overwhelmed Cobolli.

Fery took a long bathroom break ahead of the third set but the pressure was relentless.

He at least gave the crowd a final flourish, recovering from 0-40 at 2-4 with five points in a row, but Zverev wrapped up victory in only two hours and 13 minutes to set up a meeting with either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic on Sunday.

Fery walked off court to a standing ovation, with his life-changing run propelling him to 36th in the rankings, making him the new British number one.

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