With the exception of his first‑round match against Damir Dzumhur, few people gave Arthur Fery much of a chance against any of his opponents en route to the semi-finals of Wimbledon. Certainly most expected him to lose to Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round and most felt Flavio Cobolli would see him off in the quarters. But the 23-year-old has shown enormous resolve and no little skill to make it to the semi-finals and though Alexander Zverev is a massive step up, anything’s possible. Here are the areas he will need to excel in to reach the Wimbledon final.
Serve well and stand in on return
At 5ft 9in, Fery is nine inches shorter than Zverev, which has obvious implications on serve. Across his five matches here, Fery has managed to land more than 60% of first serves in, which is decent, but not amazing. If he can get that figure up closer to 70% then he’ll start to put pressure on the Zverev return. When he wins the first point on serve, Fery is very solid; he is unbroken in two of his matches when that happened and dropped only one game in two others. His returns have also been excellent, putting 70% of balls back into play in his five matches. Fery has won more than half the points on his opponents’ second serve this fortnight, but he’ll need to stand close in to stop Zverev’s kick serve from bouncing over his head. Zverev often goes big on second serve so if Fery’s making a lot of balls, the old vulnerability on the German’s second serve could lead to double faults.
Get forward whenever he can
Zverev has actually made a change in this area at Wimbledon, standing closer to the baseline than usual, certainly than in Paris, where he was almost up against the back fence. However, Zverev still stands about six feet behind the baseline to return, which offers Fery the chance to attack. When someone stands that deep, the server has more room to serve out wide on the deuce court and come to the net. Fery has not used the serve and volley that much but when he has, he’s been successful, winning 15 of 19 points. He’s also won 149 of 230 points at the net, or 65%. Against Cobolli in the quarters, he was up at 77%. Both men are consistent from the baseline – each has won 49% of points from there – but coming forward when he can is key for Fery.
Use the drop shot to keep Zverev off balance
Fery’s deft touch has been on show throughout the fortnight and the Briton will need to use his drop shot, in particular, to get Zverev out of his comfort zone. The German loves to just hammer backhands from the baseline, and Fery can’t afford to let him settle into a rhythm. Using the drop shot on the first shot after the serve might work well, and even if it doesn’t work all the time, just the fact that is an option for Fery can put some doubt into Zverev’s head. The 29-year-old is not as comfortable at the net, so drawing him forward could yield some success.
Take his opportunities
Zverev’s serve has been incredible throughout the fortnight, the confidence from winning his first grand slam title oozing through his body. Against an admittedly hindered Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals, the German was making 77% of his first serves and winning more than 70% on both first and second. Fery’s block return should get him into points and when he does have a break-point chance, he needs to take them.
Use the crowd
There is no doubt that the crowd is going to be firmly behind Fery. He’s just the fifth British man to reach this stage in the open era and if he could make the final, it would really be the stuff of fairytales. Getting the crowd engaged early on will be important, not least because Fery has played four hours more than Zverev in his five matches. He knows it, too. “I’ve been trying to use the crowd to my advantage in important moments, just to add a little pressure maybe to the opponents,” he said after his win over Cobolli. “I’ll try and do that again at moments that feel right on Friday.”
