By Martyn Herman
LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) – Britain’s Arthur Fery kept the home flag flying at Wimbledon as he defied nosebleeds and big-serving Belgian Zizou Bergs to complete a thrilling win and reach the last 16 on Saturday.
Fans crammed around Court 18 roared on the 23-year-old as he battled back from nowhere to win 2-6 7-5 2-6 7-6(3) 7-6(5) in the longest match so far at this year’s championships.
Britain lost 15 of its 19 singles starters in round one and Fery was the only one to reach the third round. Now he is the first British wildcard into the last-16 since Andrew Foster lost to American great Pete Sampras in 1993.
“I was just trying to back my fighting spirit and just use that to my advantage and just try and base my whole game around that. Just keep going,” Fery, whose parents are both French but who grew up near Wimbledon, told reporters.
“I knew that he maybe could get a little shaky when he was getting close to winning. I don’t think he’s made the fourth round of a Slam either.”
Fery looked to be heading for defeat against 37th ranked Bergs when he trailed by two sets to one and a double break of serve in the fourth set. But Bergs tightened up and his serve failed him as Fery stormed back to set up a deciding set.
In a raucous atmosphere, with crowds wedged on every vantage point in the late afternoon sunshine, Bergs moved 4-1 ahead in the fifth set, but again he could not shake off fearless Fery.
A nosebleed, his third of the match, for Fery when he served at 4-5 added to the drama but he looked the far calmer player as the deciding first-to-10 tiebreaker began.
With error flying off the racket of a crestfallen Bergs, Fery completed victory before collapsing onto his back in relief and exhaustion after four hours and 38 minutes.
Fery said he had requested Court 18 after he also beat Finland’s Otto Virtanen, again after trailing.
It is one of Wimbledon’s more quirky arenas, with standing areas on the overlooking terrace and broadcast centre and it was also the scene of the longest tennis match in history, John Isner’s 11-hour monster against Nicolas Mahut in 2010.
No wonder the battling Fery likes it so much, but now he is heading for bigger stages.
“I think it’s time to move on. I’ll keep those great memories on 18 from today and Thursday for the rest of my life,” said Fery, who will break into the ATP’s top 100 at the end of the tournament. “We’ll see what Monday holds for me.”
He will face either Grigor Dimitrov or Matteo Berrettini for a place in the quarter-finals.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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