Novak Djokovic reacts to Arthur Fery’s remarkable run at Wimbledon and has praise for him

The Italian was simply too good for Djokovic, who will have to wait another year to tie Roger Federer‘s record of eight Wimbledon titles.

Prior to their bout, the fairytale story of British wildcard Arthur Fery came to an end on Centre Court, with the 23-year-old home hope bowing out of the tournament after losing to Alexander Zverev.

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Placed 114th in the world before the tournament, Fery has now skyrocketed up the live ATP rankings to 36th with his run to the semifinals, meaning he is just four spots away from being seeded at Grand Slams.

The Briton shocked the tennis world at this year’s Wimbledon Championships and certainly impressed Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic reacts to Arthur Fery’s semifinal run at Wimbledon

Asked about Fery’s campaign in his post-match press conference, Djokovic replied: “Well, I mean, it was a great wildcard story.

“Obviously, I think my ex-coach Goran [Ivanisevic] was the last wildcard that got very far, actually won the trophy.

“So it doesn’t happen very often that you have a wildcard that goes so far – particularly obviously home player from England.

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“It’s great for the tournament. It was great for the home crowd. Today I watched a little bit of the match.

“Sascha was just too strong. But it was a hell of an effort from him to win, I think, what is it, three five-setters or something during his tournament? That’s impressive.

“For the future, it’s hard to tell. Things have to come together. But he definitely has shown that he possesses a quality.”

Arthur Fery said Alexander Zverev was ‘definitely a step up’

Fery had earned big wins over Grigor Dimitrov and Flavio Cobolli during his incredible run, but Zverev proved to be too much for him in the end.

“Yeah, it was definitely a step up today,” said Fery in his post-match press conference.

“Yeah, we know how well he can play. He was hitting his forehand really well, I thought. Really going big.

“That’s the side that maybe not that he struggles with but maybe he has more good days but also bad days on. I felt like today he was, yeah, hitting it really big. Didn’t seem to affect him when he missed.

“Maybe it would have been a bit different if I applied more pressure on him at really important moments. Maybe the forehand would have made a few more errors. But yeah, he played really well on that side.

“Backhand’s always super solid. Yeah, he’s just serving big, consistently big, consistently in the 135s. It’s tough to read. He doesn’t really have spots that he favors.

“Again, maybe his first-serve percentage would have dropped if I applied more pressure, but I thought he played really well.”

Zverev will now have the chance to become the first man in the Open Era to win his second Grand Slam title immediately after winning his first, having hoisted a maiden major trophy at Roland Garros last month.