Briton Fery downs Dimitrov in battle of the Wimbledon wildcards

Home hope Arthur Fery won the battle of the wildcards on Monday, beating seasoned campaigner Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6(7) to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Fery, ranked 114 and the last Briton in the draw and into his first Grand Sam quarter final, kept a steady focus and composure to down the 35-year-old Bulgarian, 11 years his senior and who has reached three Grand Slam finals in a career hit by injury. He was ranked as high as number three in the world in 2017.

Fery, who turns 24 next Sunday, showed great resilience to counter the elegant shot-making of the 146-ranked Dimitrov and, spurred on by a partisan crowd, served two aces in the final set tie-break.

He took the match with a big serve that the tiring Dimitrov could only dump in the net and stood with his hands on his hips in disbelief enjoying the applause of the crowd in fading light after nearly four hours of absorbing tennis.