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Britain’s Arthur Ferry was still coming to terms with the ‘incredible’ full-circle moment of playing Roger Federer on his Center Court debut after reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Monday night.
He became the first player ranked outside the ATP top 100 since world No. 144 Nick Kyrgios in 2014 to reach the men’s singles last eight, when he stunned Grigor Dimitrov in five sets 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (10-7).
The 23-year-old wild card grew up near Wimbledon and some of his earliest tennis memories are of visiting the All England Club and watching Federer and other top players in action.
In fact, his last visit to Center Court as an 11-year-old fan was to watch the 2014 Wimbledon final between Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Eight-time winner Roger Federer watched the ferry from the Royal Box
“When I turned on the TV in the changing room for the women’s match in the first match (today at Center Court), I saw Roger was in the Royal box, I didn’t know he was coming.
“I sent a message to my team, ‘Roger’s in the box, I’m pretty tight’.
“It’s incredible to be in that position where one of the all-time greats is watching you, watching me alone on Center Court at Wimbledon playing a five-set match against Dimitrov.”
Ferri, who will move into the world top 100 after his surprise run at Wimbledon, has set up a quarter-final showdown with ninth seed and French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli.
Tennis is in his genes. His mother Olivia Ferry (née Gravereaux) reached a career high of world No. 225 during his tour, which won him two ITF titles and also represented France at the Fed Cup.
In only his second appearance throughout Ferry’s breakout campaign at Wimbledon, he showed nerves of steel and fighting qualities beyond his young age.
He was broken twice in the fourth set against Dimitrov, while he trailed third-round opponent and Eastbourne champion Jiju Bergs 4-1 in both the fourth and fifth sets on Saturday.
So where does his mental strength come from?
“It’s always something you try to pride yourself on being mentally tough,” he said.
“If you don’t necessarily have the right attitude and you lose a match, you feel a little bit, well, ashamed or think you could have done better. Yeah, it’s always a work in progress. I think nobody’s perfect every match.
“But especially these two weeks, it’s come out multiple times now. I’m really proud of how – my behavior on the court, not complaining or any anger, but how I’m fighting and staying in matches.”
Ferry once said that Kyrgios is his favorite player and likes the way he plays and “the good elements of how he behaves on court”.
Kyrgios is a big-game player and Ferry showed similar qualities as he looked home in a fifth-set match for the second time on Center Court.
Ferry rallied the crowd for more inspiration and volume in the next stage as his own layers dipped to help him cross the line.
“(I was using the crowd) especially towards the end when I was getting physical, I was losing my footing a little bit, yeah. I knew that when Grigor was serving to stay in the match, it was going to put some pressure on him.
“But I was just doing it for me and really getting my energy up and getting the crowd involved.”
Judd Bellingham holds up his arms in style celebration after Arthur Ferry came through an epic five set
Ferry, who joins Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Cameron Norrie, Roger Taylor and Greg Rusedski as the only male members of Wimbledon’s last-eight club, also likes to use music to motivate him, noting that house music and rappers like Dave and Central C help him get in the zone.
He will prepare for a huge quarter-final against Kobolli on Wednesday with an outside chance of becoming the first wild card to win a Grand Slam title since Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon in 2001 – 25 years ago.
Ferry defeated Coboli 7-6, 6-4, 6-1 at the Australian Open in January but hopes to face another player on grass later this week.
“It’s going to be a good match regardless. I expect it to be very, very tough and different to Australia. Totally different conditions. I’m sure he’ll be at 100 per cent here, which maybe he wasn’t at 100 per cent in Australia.
“I played really well in Australia. I felt like I dominated the match. So we’ll use that experience for Wednesday.”
Dimitrov: I really believe I have more moments in me
As for Dimitrov, he again exits Wimbledon at the same stage he did a year ago but under much different circumstances.
A year ago, a pectoral injury forced him to retire two sets up against world number one Janic Sinner.
Considering where he was a year ago, he was grateful to be playing tennis again but was left to regret what might have been.
Grigor Dimitrov is grateful to be playing tennis again
“Every match I’ve played so far has been very emotional. Yes, it’s sad. It’s definitely sad,” he said.
“Of course, I wanted to do better, like better. Who knows what could have happened. At least now I know I didn’t have enough in me to make it happen.
“I’m going to try again. I really believe I have a few more moments like this in me. I just have to find a way to make it work in my favor.
“Also, I can’t flip the switch at 52 weeks and expect the lights to go on. I have to fight harder now, more than ever. I have to put in more effort than ever.
“I have to be very, I think, selective with what I do on and off the court to give myself the best chance.”
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