Second-seeded Alexander Zverev put an end to the “Fery-tale” run of a British wild card on Friday and punched his ticket to the Wimbledon final for the first time, where he’ll face defending champ Jannik Sinner, who knocked out seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
Zverev recorded a 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Arthur Fery in 2 hours, 14 minutes to advance to Sunday’s final at the All England Club in London.
“It’s amazing. This is the one that I’ve always struggled with the most. Now I’m in the final at Wimbledon,” Zverev said.
No. 1 seed Sinner, meanwhile, defeated Djokovic in straight sets in the semifinals for the second straight year at Wimbledon, this time notching a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win.
However, Sinner may have been thinking more about his most recent matchup against Djokovic, a five-set loss in the Australian Open semis in January, as the Italian dominated the 24-time major winner in two hours and 20 minutes to leave no questions this time.
“We always have very tough matches, and the last one he won in the semis in Australia,” Sinner said of his rivalry with Djokovic. The pair are 2-2 at Wimbledon but Sinner has won six of the seven most recent matchups to lead 7-5 overall against the Serbian.
“So I tried to make a couple of adjustments, even though here on grass it is very difficult,” Sinner said. “I tried to stay quite aggressive, serving very well which helped me a lot today. He’s probably the best returner we have in our game, so I tried to mix it up.”
Sinner won 88 percent (45/51) of points behind his first serve, knocked down 16 aces, and saved the only break point he faced against Djokovic.
Zverev, 29, notched his second straight major final appearance. The German won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open last month with a five-set victory over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in Paris.
Should Zverev win Sunday, he will become just the seventh man in the Open Era to win the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year. Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz also accomplished that feat.
“It’s not gonna be easy no matter who it is against,” Zverev said after his win, which was completed before the Sinner-Djokovic match. “But I have to trust myself and believe I can win. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
Fery, who was ranked 114th in the world, was the second wild card to reach a Wimbledon semifinal after 2001 titlist Goran Ivanisevic. Fery, whose 24th birthday is on Sunday, grew up less than a mile from the All England Club.
–Field Level Media
