For the thousands of people who gathered on Wimbledon’s iconic grass slope, Henman Hill, to support Arthur Fery, it wasn’t the fairytale ending they had hoped for.
Fery was knocked out of the championships by the German grand slam winner and No 2 seed Alexander Zverev in a semi-final match that many had dared dream might upend its David and Goliath narrative.
On the newly coined Arthur’s Seat, an estimated 3,500 tennis fans crammed on to every patch of grass they could find to watch the match on a big screen, soak up the atmosphere, and cheer on homegrown talent.
Before the end of the first set, the crowds had grown to the point that the hill, also known as Murray Mound but officially Aorangi Terrace, was closed off, and a queue of frustrated Fery fans snaked around the grounds.
“Where are all these people coming from,” asked one exasperated security guard as he tried to move spectators on from blocking pathways with growing desperation. One fan exclaimed: “It’s crazy trying to get a spot on the hill!”
Deborah Sampson had come from Essex to show her support for Fery in person. “He’s another up-and-coming Great Britain star for us, after [Andy] Murray,” she said.
“I think he deserved to win, but it is disappointing,” she said, though consoled herself that aged 23, “he’s got a long way to go. He’ll be back next year.”
Claire Churchill, from Leatherhead, said that despite the result, the atmosphere on the hill was “brilliant”. “Everybody’s been clapping and getting involved,” she said, adding she had been heartened to see the crowd give him a standing ovation “to show respect” despite the result.
“Being British, it’s very much like, ‘Oh that’s a shame’, but he’s the underdog, so he’s done brilliantly,” she said.
Henry Rosenstock, from Germany, was supporting Zverev, but said: “I’ve followed [Fery’s] games and I know what the fuss is about – and yeah, it’s quite huge, I mean, he’s a wildcard, so it’s even more special.”
Fery fans started gathering on the hill from the moment Wimbledon’s gates opened at 10am, some with their laptops perched on their legs or picking up harried phone calls as they juggled their work commitments with last-minute leave to catch Britain’s great tennis hope.
As the match got under way, the hill’s customary polite clapping exploded into loud cheers. In violation of the championship rules prohibiting large flags, one fan unfurled an England flag with “King Arthur” scrawled on top.
George Pitchford, from Clapham, south-west London, managed to squeeze on to the hill by arriving an hour early. It was his sixth Wimbledon, and he said: “It’s crazy, I’ve never seen it this busy.”
A somewhat subdued atmosphere descended on the crowd as Fery struggled against Zverev in the first two sets. “The game’s not going maybe as you would like it, but it’s decent,” Pitchford said, noting that Fery was looking “washed out a bit”.
He added: “I think everyone’s just so happy to see him. Such a good story, it might end now but he’s been great.
“It’s great to have a British player in the semi-finals again, we’ve actually had a bit of a lull since Murray, so it’s really nice to be able to get behind someone.”
Johnny Aitkens, from Wandsworth, south-west London, arrived two hours before the game to secure a spot. He observed that the crowd felt “quite tense”. Echoing a sentiment voiced by many others, he said Fery’s progress had “kind of crept up on me … and suddenly I was like, ‘wow’.”
Mindy Valone, from New York, and her friend Rebecca Hickim, from north London, had come to Wimbledon purposely to soak up the hill atmosphere. “It’s exhilarating, it’s exciting,” said Valone.
Hickim added that the hill was “a lot busier” than her previous Wimbledon visits, with “more excitement and interest”.
Sebastian Hazzan, from London, had come to Wimbledon in the hope of finding a new tennis star to follow. “I miss Andy Murray, really,” he said, adding: “But he could be [the next one] … I love an underdog, and he’s an inspiration.”
Hazzan and his friend Eve Eyimah were teetering with “one toe on the grass” on the edge of the hill in a desperate bid to evade the scrutiny of the security guards patrolling the crowds. “They’re very strict,” Hazzan said.
