British wildcard Arthur Fery into maiden Grand Slam semi-final with inspired straight-sets win over Flavio Cobolli at Wimbledon

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Arthur Fery advanced into the Wimbledon semi-finals to keep his dream run alive with a dominant straight sets win over Roland-Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli. The wildcard beat the Italian 6-4 7-6(4) 6-0 on Centre Court.

Highlights: Fery fairytale continues with stunning win over Dimitrov

Video credit: SNTV

The Centre Court crowd were treated to some stunning tennis from Fery, the world No. 114 defying all expectations to advance to a maiden Grand Slam final four.

And it took the home favourite just two hours and 14 minutes to wrap up a famous victory.

"I just can't believe it. It is incredible to play on Centre Court for the second time, second win. I just can't believe it," an emotional Fery said in his on-court interview.

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Cobolli probably could not believe what happened either, especially since he was arguably the fresher of the two coming in, having won his round of 16 match in straight sets while Fery had needed five sets to get past Grigor Dimitrov.

But it was Fery who started the faster, the Briton taking the opening set 6-4 in under 40 minutes, the set point coming from a poorly timed Cobolli double fault.

The Italian followed up with a loose forehand to gift the opening set to the wildcard, which got the home crowd roaring.

Cobolli responded immediately, breaking to love at the start of the second - using all his experience to quickly quieten the fans and briefly preventing Centre Court turning too raucous in support of the Briton.

But his resurgence did not last long, Fery breaking back and taking the set to a tie-break. The wildcard took that too, getting an early mini-break and carrying that momentum forward with a series of ground stroke winners.

With a two-set lead, Fery proved unstoppable, breaking an out-of-sorts Cobolli early in the third as the Italian started to wilt in the sweltering conditions.

The thrilling display from the 23-year-old continued, Fery hitting the lines and showing willingness to come forward, at home at the net on an afternoon he will long remember. Even his mishits went in during an extraordinary performance.

He broke again, and again as Cobolli faded fast - the Italian's frustrations bubbling over deep in the third with the end in sight. An ace sealed the famous win.

"That last game, I felt emotions I have never experienced before in my life and I think it is the same up there [in my player box]. It is unbelievable to share it with those guys, a great bunch of guys, and I'm so happy," Fery added.

He has one day of rest before that semi-final on Friday - but the Briton is not too sure how to approach his sixth match at his home Grand Slam.

"I don't know, I’ve never been in this position before, so I guess it is going to be the first time, and we will figure it out as we go," he explained.

"I’m just going to keep going, I’ve been doing a great job for the past 10 days, so just going to keep going and see where it takes me."

With Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper pulling out of Wimbledon injured, and so many British players losing in the first round, this tournament could have been a damp squib for British tennis. But instead, it is one that will be remembered for Fery's breakout performance.

These two had met once before, in the first round of the Australian Open - a match comprehensively won by Fery in straight sets, something that perhaps more should have paid more heed to.

But since then, Cobolli has had plenty of notable results, reaching the finals in Acapulco, Munich and of course, Roland-Garros.

Having lost his only warm-up match on grass after that Paris final, Cobolli did not come into Wimbledon with high expectations despite reaching the quarter-finals here last season.

He only booked his accommodation long enough to reach the fourth round, having to scramble to find somewhere to stay after beating Alex de Minaur.

But he will not need to extend that booking now, heading home after losing to an inspired opponent.

Cobolli might have started the match as the favourite - but the Italian was powerless to stop the Fery juggernaut from rolling on at SW19.

And on Friday, Fery will attempt to become the first wildcard to make the final here since Goran Ivanisevic back in 2001, when he plays Alexander Zverev.

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