Bill Simons
Stanford’s now in the ACC. So they’re road warriors used to going to far-flung cities like Blacksburg, Virginia, and Tallahassee, Florida. So it wasn’t that big a deal when Stanford tennis coach Paul Goldstein booked a flight to London to be by the side of his protege Arthur Fery, who had pulled off an almost inconceivable deep run into the second week of Wimbledon.
Of course, Goldstein wasn’t the only one who was intrigued by the kid’s wizardry. King Roger Federer came over from Switzerland. Princess Kate walked down St. Mary’s Walk to cozy Court 18 to watch Britain’s newly anointed hero. And, of course, tennis-loving Queen Camilla looked on from the Royal Box, along with a British fan wearing one of those – how garish can you get – Union Jack suits.
But that was suitable today. Fery had become the first British wildcard to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
But now cynics muttered, “Enough already.” Certainly tennis’ Fery tale would now fizzle.
After all, British wildcards are infamous. They know their place. We know their narrative: win a round or two, then scurry back to Manchester or Leeds and wait to get another wildcard next year. Or, so it seemed.
Yes, in the third round Fery did what Team USA couldn’t do in the World Cup. He put a Belgian, Zizou Bergs, in his place. Then, again in five sets, he dismissed former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov.
Every fish-and-chip shop on the island was abuzz about the handsome young fellow.
But now the local kid would be facing a harsh reality – a Top Ten player, Flavio Cobolli. Soon we’d be saying Arthur’s remarkable ascent had been nice while it lasted. But the 5′ 9″ 23-year-old with French parents, good grades and astonishing calm, had something else in mind.
Why not, with Goran Ivanisevic, become the second wildcard ever to reach the Wimbledon semifinals?
Fery fever gripped Wimbledon. “Up on Henman Hill, there’s an absolute mass of humanity watching this,” noted one broadcaster. Never mind that Queen Camilla nervously clutched her white mini-fan. Never mind that English lads and ladies incessantly called out, “C’mon, R-tour!”
Fery continually sought haven in his safe spot – his composure.
Sure, he was only No. 114 in the world. But his confidence was clear. He’d beaten Cobolli in straight sets in the opening round of the Australian Open.
Fery called on his athleticism, pushing the Italian far behind the baseline. Arthur had been superb in the fourth round. He’d improved in the quarters. Today he was even better against the smooth Italian who just a month ago had reached the French Open final.
The Italian was shakier than spaghetti.
As the pride of Wimbledon’s posh King’s College School scored a runaway 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 victory, Wimbledon Radio took it all in:
“The story continues, and what a story has been written…Absolutely stunning…Fery just has this ability to stay in the moment. His attention to detail. The discipline to play each point…I’m shocked how Cobolli has capitulated.…The Italian is punch-drunk…[while] Fery’s looking fearless and fabulous…We’ve never seen anything like this, a wildcard taking it to a Top Ten player.”
With a shameless dose of exaggeration, they added, “It’s the greatest performance we’ve ever seen here.”
Fery soon confessed, “I felt emotions I hadn’t felt in my life.” After all, the Englishman had turned Wimbledon’s most famous stadium into King Arthur’s Court.
But, on Friday, can the man who beat the French Open finalist beat the French Open champion, the hottest player on the planet, the newly confident Alexander Zverev, who today downed Taylor Fritz and has a 17-1 record in Slams this year?
And then – imagine this – on Sunday could Fery possibly win Wimbledon on his 24th birthday? No big deal, he’d only have to beat Zverev and then defending champion Jannik Sinner, or that guy from the Serbian mountains who has 24 Slam trophies on his mantle.
Now, that would be one heck of a Fery tale.
ROGER FEDERER – THE SOLITARY KING: Here’s a newsflash. Roger Federer has a temper. No, not a Johnny Mac temper that explodes. Not a Nick Kyrgios temper that slashes back with a mean slice. Not a Jimmy Connors, “You’re an abortion!” temper and certainly not an indignant Serena roar you hear in row Z.
Roger’s temper is smooth, almost gracious. Come on, he’s Roger Federer, would you expect anything less?
After a tight win over Jan-Lennard Struff early in the 2018 Australian Open, he was indignant that writers paid little attention to his obscure, but hard-working German foe. He let reporters have it.
At the 2011 French Open he’d seemed to be in command in the final, but then faltered. In the post-match presser, I asked Roger to explain what happened. He simmered and came back at me, “Come on, you tell me. You were there.” To this day, my colleagues and I still laugh about it.
This year, late Monday night, Roger wasn’t pleased when the Royal Box was completely empty and there was no one watching tennis. How disrespectful to the French champion Sascha Zverev and the rarely celebrated No. 13 seed, Jiri Lehecka. So Roger (who can even make a brown suit look chic) went out and sat by himself and seemed serene in the Royal Box.
The photos of tennis’ most beloved player were stunning: the king alone and grand. Still handsome after all these years, but showing the character and lines that come with middle age, the 44-year-old who will enter the Hall of Fame in August, once again commanded the Wimbledon stage.
And we couldn’t help but recall how wonderful Roger felt in 2009 when he beat Andy Roddick in five thrilling sets to break Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Slam titles as Pete himself looked down from the Royal Box.
AND THEN THERE WERE NONE: Taylor Fritz, the last American standing and one of the best players never to win a Slam, had beaten Alexander Zverev seven times in a row. He had the guy’s number – right. But the German had just won the French Open. And while Zverev was flush with confidence, the American was slowed by his chronic knee injury and fell badly 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Sascha, who reached his third Slam semifinal of the year, is well aware he will be next playing home favorite Fery. But not to worry, the veteran said, “I think I just have to trust my tennis, I just have to trust myself.”
DJOKOVIC DOESN’T KNOW A THING ABOUT TIME MANAGEMENT – OR DOES HE? In the NBA, savvy coaches protect their aging superstars. Time management is a critical tactic. God forbid LeBron or Stef be overworked. So, be sure to sit your elder wonder for many a mid-season game, and, goodness, don’t let him play more than 31 minutes in a game.
Well, screw that. Timeless Novak Djokovic, 39, beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in an instant classic, the longest quarterfinal in Wimbledon history 7-6 (10-4), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (10-4). It only took 5:15.
When asked how he’d managed to win the battle, Djokovic replied: “With racket and a lot of heart…[and the] management of the nerves.”
SAY IT ISN’T SO: Like he did disastrously at the 2020 US Open, in a brief moment of upset, Novak bashed a ball at the Wimbledon backstop. Thank God this time it didn’t do any harm. Plus, he was also fined $7,500 for an obscenity.
CLUTCH COCO: Coco Gauff, who came from behind to beat her former doubles partner Jessie Pegula and reach her first Wimbledon semi in seven tries, has won 15 matches this year in the deciding set.
FINANCIAL TIP OF THE WEEK: Irish broadcaster Claire Curran said, “Coco is so good at scrambling, if you could bottle it and sell it you would make a fortune.”
THE WTA’S MOST ENCHANTING PLAYER: Is the smooth, gracious and inventive Karolina Muchova the most enchanting player to watch in the WTA? With light feet and unfettered imagination, the Czech creates feathery shots that dazzle. The veteran, who won the Bad Homburg Open is on a ten-match winning streak, and will next face Gauff.
THE CONFESSIONS OF ALEX DE MINAUR: Some, like Serena and Osaka, at times skip out on pressers. Others just offer perfunctory answers. “I lost because Chrissie was lucky,” said Aranxta Sanchez Vicario. Others inform us that they went down in defeat because they lost the last point.
Others use press conferences to bare their souls. After a long sabbatical from the game, John McEnroe went on and on and on in Vermont. It must have felt good. After being in a fatal Florida car accident, Venus Williams bore her soul at Wimbledon. Last year, after a brutal Wimbledon loss, Sascha Zverev opened up and reflected on how he’d hit rock bottom.
Tuesday, after suffering a miserable loss to Cobolli, No. 5 seed Alex de Minaur expressed his sorrow, saying, “One of us went out to win the match, and the other went out not to lose…[I was] playing like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders…I’m completely destroyed…It breaks me inside. Many, many hours get put into my craft, and countless years to have moments like these. To not step up to the plate, it’s truly gut wrenching…It’s not easy to take.”
“You go through moments where you feel that there are opportunities to be taken to make it to the next level, and to become an even better version of yourself…[But] you start doubting whether you’re going to be able to break through…It’s a battle I deal with every day.”
“The goals, the beliefs, the dreams that you have, they kind of start fading away…I won’t play another tournament for a while. It hurts like hell now. But I’ll get back up. I’m a competitor…I’ll give myself another chance…I need to deal with it better, because if not, I’m just not going to be able to achieve the dreams I’ve got.”
