Arthur Fery beat Falvio Cobolli in straight sets to continue his fairytale Wimbledon run into the semi-finals on Centre Court17:54, 08 Jul 2026Updated 17:54, 08 Jul 2026As he sorted out his bag before entering the arena, Arthur Fery was surprised by a well-wisher. She offered the slightly startled British player a handshake for luck.‌You know it is a big occasion when the Queen is sending you onto Centre Court with a few encouraging words. And just over two hours later, Queen Camilla was saluting King Arthur.‌Remarkably, Fery had swept Flavio Cobolli aside in straight sets to book himself a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals and earn royal approval.‌Against a player in the world’s top 10, it was a truly stunning performance. It guarantees Fery a payday of at least £900,000 but was a one-in-a-million match for the unlikely British hero.Seriously, in this form, you would not bet against Fery making it to the final. In his biggest test of the Championships, he produced his finest tennis - surely the finest tennis of his career.Under a clear blue sky, he dazzled. He never changed his sweat-soaked shirt but his temperament was ice-cold from the get-go.‌Starting in the murderous mid-afternoon sun - on-court temperature was uncomfortably in the mid-thirties - conditions were always going to be a major factor.Fery had gone through two five-set matches, the first and second of his career, to get to this stage. It was so hot that quite a few ticket-holders opted for shade and a shandy rather than take in the early exchanges of an attritional contest.There were no signs of nerves from Fery but no appetite for risk-taking either. But in the first set, Fery did not need to be overly adventurous against a ninth seed who fought a minor battle with cork-popping, partisan punters.‌Cobolli needed something to settle him down and, for a while, it looked like a first-set loss was going to be some sort of remedy.But Fery, despite languishing 104 places below Cobolli in the world ranking, is made of stern stuff, coming from a break down to win the tie-break and take a two-set lead.‌Post-Wimbledon, it will be intriguing to see how the French-born 23-year-old - he turns 24 on Sunday - develops. Don’t forget, Fery needed a wild card to be in the men’s singles draw.But the long-term future was the last thing on his mind after taking a bathroom break ahead of the third set. What lay ahead of him was a momentous opportunity against a Grand Slam finalist who was becoming more agitated by each home cheer.And he took that momentous opportunity in nerveless fashion. It was the top-ten man who folded - not that he had ever been on top against a truly inspired Fery.Article continues belowCobolli simply had no answer to the energy and relentless retrieving of a young man who lives just down the road from this court. And Fery did not just upset the sport’s natural order, he ended up demolishing 24-year-old Cobolli.He closed out the match with a swagger, the 6-4 7-6 6-0 scoreline doing justice to his domination. It was regal stuff. No wonder the Queen got to her feet when the winning point was complete.And who knows? There is a semi-final to negotiate but on Sunday, on his birthday, Arthur could be crowned king.