Alexander Zverev ends 'Fery-tale,' reaches Wimbledon final

Field Level Media|published: Fri 10th July, 11:38 2026

Jul 6, 2026; London, United Kingdom; Alexander Zverev (GER) celebrates after his match against Taylor Fritz (USA) (not pictured) on day 10 of The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

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.

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.

The German will face the winner of Friday's other semifinal pitting top-seeded and defending champion Jannik Sinner of Italy and seventh-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champ and 24-time major winner.

When asked if he preferred one opponent or the other, Zverev was quick with a joke.

"Uh, I hope I can play a junior. That would be great," Zverev said. "Whether it's the defending champion or somebody who's won here 48 times with Novak Djokovic, it's not gonna be easy no matter who it is against. But I have to trust myself and believe I can win. That's what I'm gonna do."

Zverev, 29, notched his second straight major final appearance. He 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.

Zverev became just the third German man to reach the title match at Wimbledon, joining Boris Becker and Michael Stich.

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.

"I have to give credit to Arthur. Unbelievable player. I think he's gonna be a senior citizen on our tour because I think he's gonna play on this tour for 15-plus years," Zverev said.

--Field Level Media

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