GB's Fery fights off Bergs and nosebleeds to reach fourth round

GB's Fery fights off Bergs and nosebleeds to reach fourth round

ByEmily Salley

BBC Sport journalist

Updated 55 minutes ago

British wildcard Arthur Fery beat Zizou Bergs in a five-set thriller to reach the Wimbledon fourth round and keep home singles hopes alive - despite suffering three nosebleeds during the match.

Wildcard Fery recovered twice from falling a set and a break down to come through 2-6 7-5 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-5) in front of a packed crowd on court 18.

Fery was outside the world's top 100 at the start of the championships but played above his ranking to become sole home player to reach the singles third round.

After fighting back to beat Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur and Finland's Otto Virtanen in his first two matches, it seemed as though Fery had finally run out of steam against Belgium's Bergs.

But the 23-year-old held his nerve and then rallied to become the first British wildcard to reach the Wimbledon fourth round since Andrew Foster in 1993.

"No words for it, honestly," said Fery, who threw himself to the floor in celebration after a gruelling four hours and 39 minutes on court - the longest match of this year's tournament.

"I don't know what is going on right now. It will take time to digest it."

The victory will move him into the world's top 100 for the first time, while he is set to earn £300,000 in prize money for reaching the fourth round - where he will face either Italy's Matteo Berrettini or Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

Returning to court 18 - where he had beated Virtanen in the second round - Fery endured a difficult start when he fell an early break down and suffered a nosebleed for the third match in a row.

He received treatment on the issue on three separate occasions, with the final nosebleed arriving as he was serving to stay in the match at 5-4 down in the deciding set.

"It is a problem I am going to address. It has happened before but it's not that common," Fery said.

"It happened at times today when I didn't want to stop, when momentum was with me.

"I know it annoying for the opponent. It gives me some extra time to rest sometimes."

A player who is bleeding must receive treatment before play can continue, but they do not have to leave the court. There is no limit under Grand Slam rules on the number of treatments a player can receive.

Bergs outplayed Fery with a mix of vicious forehand winners and deft drop shots to claim the opening set.

However, after dropping serve first in the second set, Fery finally found his rhythm and capitalised on the rising number of mistakes by the 6ft 1in Belgian.

The momentum shifted midway through the third set as Bergs won six games in a row and raced to a 4-1 lead in the fourth.

Backed by a raucous crowd, the French-born Briton dug deep to claw his way back and take the match to a deciding set and keep his dreams alive.

Hopes dwindled as Bergs once again moved 4-1 up in the fifth set before Fery produced one final fightback to force a tie-break, which he sailed through as the crowd's belief carried him over the finish line.

"With that support, it is unbelievable. I requested to play on this court and the club made it happen which was awesome," Fery said.

"I was down for pretty much the whole match, managed to scramble back from two breaks and 4-1 in the fifth, and just tried to put up as much of a fight as I could."

In the mixed doubles on Saturday, Joe Salisbury combined with Canada's Leylah Fernandez to knock out fellow Briton Julian Cash and Dutch partner Demi Schuurs 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 victory.

Britain's Neal Skupski and American partner Desirae Krawczyk, two-time winners of the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon, fought back to claim a 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over British duo Billy Harris and Freya Christie.

British pair Jodie Burrage and David Stevenson were beaten 6-4 6-1 by Italian top seeds Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani, while Ben Jones and Maia Lumsden were the winners of an all-British clash against Joshua Paris and Eden Silva.

In the women's doubles, Britain's Samantha Murray Sharan and Thailand's Lanlana Tararudee replaced Serena and Venus Williams following their withdrawal from the tournament, but fell to a 6-3 6-4 defeat by Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra.