Britain’s last man standing Arthur Fery pulls off epic five-set comeback victory to keep Wimbledon dream alive

When Zizou Bergs’ return serve hit the net, Arthur Fery collapsed onto the surface of his beloved Court 18 and lay on his back, screaming into the evening sky. He stood up, ran over to his ultras and did a Jurgen Klopp-style triple fist pump.

The last Englishman standing has formed a bond with Wimbledon’s most characteristic arena, but that bond must now be broken; The fourth round and one of the All England Club’s two major stages await.

Belgian Bergs, named Zinedine ‘Zizou’ Zidane by her football-mad father, won two of the first three sets and took a 4-1 lead in both the fourth and fifth sets. But the 5ft 9in Fery kept pushing forward and cleared 2-6, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6. With this win, he entered the top 100 and became the second shortest member of this club after Argentinian Sebastien Baez.

‘There is nothing to say about this. I don’t know what’s going on right now. “It’s going to take time to digest this,” Fery, 23, said. ‘ I just tried to stay in the match, support myself as a competitor.

‘I was almost down throughout the match, I managed to get back and tried to fight as much as I could.’

As one might expect from a Stanford graduate, Fery summed up the match eloquently. It was a magnificent performance, characterized by a wonderful, subtle tennis performance, but above all by his ability to remain poised despite his opponent’s fluctuating form. Fery got help from the other end of the field, of course he did: Bergs had a tendency to choke, so he might have been advised to stick to soup for dinner. It was Zizou’s worst meltdown since Materazzi’s header in the 2006 World Cup final. But Fery was always there when his opponent’s level dropped. Bergs was so distraught when he arrived at the press conference that he had to leave the room to regain his composure. When he came back he could only say: ‘He played better when it mattered. He deserved to win..

As the last Briton, Fery should have been on Court No. 1 for this match at least. However, after beating Otto Virtanen in the second round at 18, he requested to stay there and the All England Club fulfilled his wish.

Fery has had nosebleeds this year, and today he had three more nosebleeds; It’s a good thing Wimbledon towels are red this year. There have been nosebleeds in every match so far, and Fery admits it’s partly due to stress. If this is the case and this run lasts longer, he may need a mid-match blood transfusion.

No. 1 came after four games, No. 2 came after the fourth set, and No. 3 nosebleed came at the top of the fifth set.

‘This is an issue I will address,’ he said. ‘It’s happened before but it’s not common.

‘This happened today when I didn’t want to stop, the momentum was with me. I know it’s frustrating for the opposition.’

Bergs denied that he was distracted by the bleeding, but it was noted that this may have contributed to interruptions in his flow. In the fourth set, Fery was on the verge of breaking even at 1-4 and had two breaks of serve but fought back to make a decision.

To set the stage, we must establish the topography of this unique arena. We cut across Henman’s Hill – or should it be Arthur’s Seat, at least for now – 18. Half the sides of the field are surrounded by a terrace; The fifth set of a match like this is jam-packed with three people trying to get a look.

It gives the feeling that all of Wimbledon is watching and the atmosphere is amazing – although it’s slightly dampened by an absurd delay of almost 15 minutes before the final set. While Fery left the field to change his clothes, Bergs was treated for a while. Fery returned, then Bergs decided he wanted to go and change. When he returned, Fery had his third nosebleed. Gentlemen, living men, should we all go to dinner and come back after we’ve recuperated?

But the 6-foot-10 man with a multimillionaire father and a skinny nosebleed beat Zizou Bergs in the third round

At 4-5, serving for the continuation of the match, Fery’s nose bled again and there was another long pause while the doctor was called. The tournament supervisor was also present and clearly unable to deal with such a scenario. No more delay. It was a great match, but 45 minutes of the four hours and 38 minutes were spent wandering around.

The match came down to a tiebreak (top 10) and as it did throughout the match, you took a liking to Fery at the most tense moment. He took an 8-4 lead, made the change, applied a final coat of sealant to his left nostril, and scored the biggest win of his life.

Wonderful.