‘I love an underdog’: Fery fans turn up in thousands to find spot on Arthur’s Seat | Arthur Fery

For the thousands of people who gathered at Wimbledon’s iconic grass track Henman Hill to support Arthur Fery, it was not the fairytale ending they had hoped for.

Fery was knocked out of the title by German grand slam winner and No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-final match, which many imagined could turn the David and Goliath story on its head.

At the newly invented Arthur’s Seat, an estimated 3,500 tennis fans crammed into every patch of grass they could find to watch the match on the big screen, soak up the atmosphere and cheer on the homegrown talent.

Before the end of the first set the crowd had grown so large that the hill, also known as Murray Mound but officially Aorangi Terrace, was closed and a queue of disappointed Fery fans began to snake around the court.

“Where are all these people coming from?” asked an exasperated security guard as he tried with increasing desperation to direct onlookers away from roadblocks. he asked. One fan exclaimed: “Crazy trying to get a spot at the top!”

Deborah Sampson had traveled from Essex to show her support for Fery in person. “He is another promising UK star for us. [Andy] “Murray,” he said.

““I think he deserved to win, but it’s disappointing,” he said, but consoled himself by thinking that at 23, “he still has a long way to go. “He will be back next year.”

Leatherhead’s Claire Churchill said the atmosphere at the hill was “wonderful” despite the result. “Everyone is applauding and participating,” he said, adding that he was encouraged to see the crowd applauding him “to show respect” despite the result.

“Being British, it’s like, ‘Oh, that’s a shame’, but he did so well because he was the underdog,” he said.

Germany’s Henry Rosenstock was backing Zverev but said: “I followed [Fery’s] games, and I know what all the fuss is about – and yes, it’s pretty big, so it’s a wildcard, so it’s even more special.

Fery fans began to gather on the hill from the moment Wimbledon’s gates opened at 10am; some had laptops on their knees or were answering frantic phone calls while balancing work commitments with last-minute leave to hunt down Britain’s tennis great.

As the match began, the usual polite applause from the top turned into loud cheers. A fan unfurled an England flag with the words “King Arthur” written on it, in breach of championship rules banning large flags.

George Pitchford, from Clapham, south-west London, managed to climb the hill by arriving an hour early. It was his sixth Wimbledon and he said: “It’s crazy, I’ve never seen this busy.”

A somewhat calm atmosphere settled over the crowd as Fery struggled against Zverev in the first two sets. Pitchford stated that Fery looked “a little pale” and said, “The game may not be going the way you want, but it will be okay.”

He added: “I think everyone was so happy to see him. What a great story, it may end now but he was great.”

“It’s great to have an English player again in the semi-finals, we’ve actually had a bit of a slump since Murray so it’s really nice to be able to get behind someone.”

Johnny Aitkens, from Wandsworth in south-west London, arrived two hours before the match to book a spot. He observed that the crowd felt “pretty tense.” Echoing a sentiment expressed by many, he said Fery’s progress “surprised me and suddenly I was like ‘wow’.”

Mindy Valone from New York and her friend Rebecca Hickim from north London had come to Wimbledon specifically to experience the hill atmosphere. “It’s exciting, it’s exciting,” Valone said.

Hickim added that the hill was “much busier” and had “more excitement and interest” than previous Wimbledon visits.

Sebastian Hazzan from London had come to Wimbledon hoping to find a new tennis star to follow. “I really miss Andy Murray,” he said, adding: “But maybe [the next one] … I love the underdog and he is an inspiration.”

Hazzan and her friend Eve Eyimah were dangling “one toe on the grass” at the edge of the hill, desperate to escape the scrutiny of security guards patrolling the crowd. “They are very strict,” Hazzan said.