"It was impressive how she didn’t let the occasion get to her" - Arthur Fery cites Emma Raducanu's US Open triumph as inspiration for his magical Wimbledon display

Arthur Fery's dream run at Wimbledon has been inspired by a certain Emma Raducanu's 2021 US Open triumph as the fellow Brit continues to cause huge surprises at his home Grand Slam event following more progress in this unlikely fairytale.

Ranked 114 when the tournament began, Fery got in as a wildcard. He saw the obliteration of his fellow Brits around him but avoided all of that and got through his opening round match against Damir Dzumhur. He would complete another comeback win against Otto Virtanen, leaving him as the home crowd's biggest hope heading deeper into the tournament.

He would continue to impress. Back-to-back five-set thrillers against Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov most notably on Centre Court was a sight to behold as he continued to plough away and forced himself into the quarter-finals in this most unlikely feat.

It would only get better for the 23-year-old in front of a jubilant home crowd. His first straight set win came against the recent Roland Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli in a hugely impressive performance, bagelling the Italian at the end to continue his magical journey at Wimbledon.

It is a daunting task against the French Open champion next as Alexander Zverev will prove to be a stubborn foe. With the crowd firmly on his side especially after the couple of weeks he has had, then there is no reason why he cannot make more progress and challenge for the Wimbledon crown.

Back in 2021, a somewhat similar fate played out at Flushing Meadows. Raducanu qualified for the event in New York as an 18-year-old and went on to win the entire thing without even dropping a set. She was catapulted into the mainstream following one of the most impressive and unlikeliest major triumphs ever seen.

Fery has since used this as inspiration for his own unique run at Wimbledon. “My memory of it was that it was impressive how she didn’t let the occasion get to her," he said. "She’d just keep going match after match, playing well, beating top players. That was until the title. It’s very tough to do when you’re not used to being on the stage, on such a big stage.

“She did it great when she won the US Open. I’ve been trying to do that, as well. Just take it match by match, play my game, put what I do best on court. Keep doing that.”

Fery is breaking new ground all the time, before this tournament he had pocketed a total of £650,000 in his entire career. He will collect a tantalising £900,000 at least from this tournament with possibly more progress to be made. He has risen in the rankings as well, now closing in on the top 32. 78 positions have been gained, leaving him in 36th in the Live ATP Rankings, making him the British number one. If he defeats Zverev, then he will climb to 26th.

He is the fifth British player in the Open Era to reach the semi-final of Wimbledon, following in the footsteps of Andy Murray, Tim Henman, Roger Taylor and Cameron Norrie. Fery is the first wildcard to reach the semi-final since Goran Ivanisevic following his 2001 triumph.

“I’ve never met Goran. I knew beforehand that he was the only wildcard to ever win a Grand Slam," he admitted. "It’s obviously an incredible story. I’ve watched the highlights of the final before. I’m not going to speculate too much or think ahead of what that could be like for me. I’m just going to keep thinking ahead about my match on Friday, and then we’ll see how it goes.

“I’ve always believed in myself and believed that I could be a top player in the world. Obviously a semi-finalist of Wimbledon is something else. Zverev is a step up again. I’m ready for it. I have nothing to lose. I’m just going to go out there and just put my game on the court, do what I’ve done, believe in myself. We’ll see where that takes me.”