Arthur Fery has revealed he shared a ‘special’ exchange with Queen Camilla after his stunning Wimbledon quarter-final win.
Britain’s new number one, who received a wildcard to play at his home Grand Slam, thrashed Flavio Cobolli to storm into the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Fery, 23, had to overcome two five-set battles in the previous two rounds but blew away Cobolli, the world number 10, winning the final set to love.
Queen Camilla was a guest in the Royal Box on Centre Court on Wednesday and bumped into both Fery and Cobolli as they prepared to walk onto court.
The Queen was keen to personally congratulate Fery after the one-sided quarter-final and told the 23-year-old to ‘keep going’ ahead of his semi-final against French Open champion Alexander Zverev.
‘We were getting ready to come on and she came to say hello, she introduced herself to both me and Flavio,’ Fery said in his post-match press conference.
‘It’s obviously an honour to play in front of her and it was great to meet her. She had some really kind words to me at the end, as well.
‘So yeah, playing in front of tennis legends and now the Queen… it’s really special.’
Asked what the Queen said to him after the biggest win of his career, Fery added: ‘She was waiting for me at the end of the match and she congratulated me.
‘I told her how much of an honour it was for me to play in front of her and she said, “congratulations, keep going!”
‘I told her it was my birthday on Sunday, so it would be great to play the Wimbledon final on my birthday.’
Fery had never gone beyond the second round of a Grand Slam before his remarkable run at the All England Club.
But a straight-sets victory over Cobolli, who competed in the recent French Open final, saw Fery become the first men’s wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for 25 years.
‘I felt emotions that I’ve never experienced before in my life in that last game, and I’m sure it is the same up there [in my coaching box],’ Fery said in his on-court interview.
‘I don’t know what I’ll do over the next couple of days, I’ve never been in this position before! I guess we will figure it all out as we go.
‘I’m just going to keep going. I’ve been doing a great job for the past 10 days, so I’m just going to do the same thing and see where that takes me.’
Fery will face world number four Zverev for a place in the Wimbledon final after the current French Open champion beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets.
‘Zverev is a step up again,’ Fery admitted. ‘But I’m ready for it. I have nothing to lose.
‘I’m just going to go out there and, yeah, just put my game on the court, do what I’ve done, believe in myself. We’ll see where that takes me.’
Defending champion Jannik Sinner faces seven-time winner Novak Djokovic in the other Wimbledon semi-final.
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