‘Ferytale’ continues as local Arthur Fery becomes second men’s wild card to reach Wimbledon semis

LONDON — The “Ferytale” continues at Wimbledon.

Arthur Fery grew up five minutes from the All England Club and now the 114th-ranked player is a semifinalist at the grass-court Grand Slam.

Read more Judge weighs putting GOP candidates back on primary ballot amid signature fraud allegations

The 23-year-old British player, who needed a wild-card invitation to enter the tournament, beat ninth-seeded Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0 on Centre Court in front of roaring home fans and a Royal Box contingent that included Britain’s Queen Camilla on Wednesday.

“It gets better and better every match,” Fery said in an on-court interview. “I just can’t believe it.”

Fery earned a standing ovation after winning the first set. The deafening roar that followed Fery taking the tiebreaker to seal the second set was heard over at Wimbledon’s other main stadium — No. 1 Court, where Alexander Zverev was in the process of beating Taylor Fritz in straight sets.

The only other wild card to have reached the men’s singles semifinals at the All England Club was Goran Ivanisevic in his run to the Wimbledon title in 2001.

Fery sealed his memorable victory with an ace and fell onto his back to soak in the applause.

“That last game, I felt emotions that I hadn’t experienced before in my life,” he said.

A short time later, Zverev wrapped up his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win to set up a semifinal against Fery on Friday.

Moments before the start of their quarterfinal match, Fery and Cobolli were surprised to meet Camilla in the hallway before they walked onto court.

A champagne cork popped in the crowd late in the first set and distracted Cobolli during his service motion. The locals will surely pop a few more with a British player to support in Friday’s semifinal.

Friday’s other semifinal pits seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic against defending champion Jannik Sinner.

Read more ‘With all due respect’: Markey, Moulton trade barbs in heated first debate of Mass. Senate primary

Earlier Wednesday, Marta Kostyuk beat Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 to reach her first Wimbledon semifinals.

The 24-year-old Ukrainian also reached the last four at the French Open, losing to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, the eventual champion in Paris.

Kostyuk raised her hands and dropped to her knees after Paolini scuffed a shot on her second match point. After shaking hands with the Italian, Kostyuk did a pirouette on court.

The 12th-seeded Kostyuk had a sneak peak at Centre Court on Tuesday so that she wasn’t overwhelmed for the match.

“I was flabbergasted by this entrance and everything inside,” she said in an on-court interview. “I was like, ‘wow,’ I need one day to recover from what I saw. … I was on this court as [a] spectator once nine years ago watching Roger [Federer].”

Kostyuk will be back on Centre Court on Thursday to face Linda Noskova for a spot in Saturday’s final. Noskova beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-5 on No. 1 Court.

It’s the first career Grand Slam semifinal for the 21-year-old Noskova, who improved to 10-1 on grass this season.

“I was a little bit nervous before the match,” said Noskova, who beat Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open final in the buildup to Wimbledon. “Usually when it’s really, really important for me and I’m putting a little bit of pressure on myself, that’s when I play the best.”

The other women’s semifinal features Coco Gauff against Karolina Muchova, who like Noskova is from the Czech Republic. They’re up first on Centre Court on Thursday.

Read more Second person in 4 days is fatally shot in Memphis by federal task force member