British wildcard Arthur Fery, ranked 114th in the world, has staged his second consecutive fightback to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals, beating Grigor Dimitrov in a stunning fifth-set tiebreak. The 23-year-old will face ninth seed Flavio Caballo on Wednesday, with his 24th birthday on Sunday – the day of the men’s final.
The victory prompted an awkward moment on BBC’s post-match analysis when Clare Balding, 55, joked about Tim Henman’s semi-final loss to Goran Ivanisevic 25 years ago – before Henman was born. Ivanisevic, the only wildcard to win Wimbledon, beat Henman in five sets in 2001, one of his four semi-final defeats.
“British wildcard Arthur Fery stuns Grigor Dimitrov in a fifth-set tiebreak to reach Wimbledon quarter-finals.”
“It’s his birthday on Sunday, Tim! Men’s finals day,” Balding said, as pundit Jamie Murray interjected: “It’s written in the stars.” Balding continued: “And 25 years ago today, so before he was born, the only wildcard to win Wimbledon, Goran Ivanisevic, did that. I mean…”
Henman, 51, cut her off: “This is a much better story, let’s not go back to 2001!” Balding replied: “OK, let’s just keep looking forward, you’re right.”
Separately, lead commentator Andrew Castle, 62, confirmed this will be his last Wimbledon after more than 20 years with the BBC, following a reported demotion. “Am I upset? Yeah, I was upset, and I will stay that way this year, knowing it’s my last,” he told The Telegraph, adding he would have preferred to bow out in 2027 – the 150th anniversary – as his 25th year. “But who’s bleating?” he said. A BBC spokesperson said: “We wanted Andrew to continue … but he has now decided that this year will be his last.” The BBC, which recently renewed its free-to-air rights until 2033, must now find a successor from a pool including Jonathan Overend, Nick Mullins, Nick Lester and Marcus Buckland.