ANDREW DAMPF
LONDON (AP) — Alexander Zverev will compete for another major trophy, this time in the Wimbledon final, a month after he won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Zverev ended Britain’s Arthur Fery’s “Ferytale” streak with a convincing 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-4 win in the All England Club semi-final on Friday.
Zverev, whose breakthrough at Roland Garros came in his fourth Grand Slam final, is attempting to become the first man in the professional era (since 1968) to win his second title at the next tournament immediately after his first major trophy.
Fery, ranked 114th, who grew up five minutes from the All England Club and played at Stanford University, was trying to become the first wild-card player to reach the final since Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001.
In Sunday’s final, Zverev will face either defending champion Jannik Sinner or seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic, who were next on Center Court.
Djokovic beat Sinner in their last meeting in five sets in the Australian Open semi-finals.
It was another warm day in southwest London, with temperatures rising to around 29 degrees (85 Fahrenheit). It was also windy and a little cloudier than the last few days.
Zverev did well to prevent the pro-Fery fans from getting too carried away by the home team’s player, and Fery’s double fault early in the first set tie-break allowed Zverev to take control of the situation.
The 6ft 6in (1.98m) Zverev was also able to dominate his serve, which he hit at 139mph (224km/h).
By comparison, the 5-foot-9 Fery reached speeds closer to 120 mph (193 km/h).
The British spectators did their best to cheer Fery on from the start, chanting his name between rallies while sipping Pimm’s under their wide-brimmed hats.
At one point, chair umpire Mariana Veljovic had to ask the crowd to calm down.
“Ladies and gentlemen, don’t react, if possible, until the end of the rally,” Veljovic said, then added later in the first set: “Once again, don’t react during the rally. This is very worrying for both players,” which was met with applause.
When he finished, Feri walked away to a standing ovation and the crowd applauded in return.
Zverev has never reached the fourth round of Wimbledon before.
He is now the first German to reach a Grand Slam final on grass since Boris Becker lost to Pete Sampras in 1995.
The last German to win Wimbledon was Michael Stich, who beat Becker in the 1991 final.
Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, congratulated Zverev in German on his X, tweeting “Glückwunsch Sascha!!!”, using the player’s nickname.
Saturday’s women’s final will feature two Czech tennis players: Karolina Muchova against Linda Noskova.
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AP Sports Writer Ken Maguire contributed to this report.
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