Alexander Zverev ended Briton Arthur Fery's remarkable Wimbledon run with a 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-4 victory on Friday, booking his spot in Sunday's final. The German, fresh off his French Open triumph, now has a chance to win back-to-back Grand Slam titles.
After his long-awaited breakthrough at Roland Garros, Zverev reached his fifth major final and will face either defending champion Jannik Sinner or seven-time winner Novak Djokovic.
'Whether it's the champion or somebody who's won here 48 times, it's not going to be easy, no matter who it's against,' Zverev joked about a potential match with Djokovic. 'But I have to trust myself and I have to believe that I can win, and that's what I'm going to do.'
On a warm, windy Friday afternoon, Zverev took time to find his rhythm, trading early breaks with Fery before dominating the tiebreak without losing a point to take the first set.
'It was amazing … Arthur, what an unbelievable player,' Zverev said. 'He's going to be a senior citizen on our tour, because I think he's going to play for 15-plus years and is going to have great results. This is just the beginning of his career, and I really think he's going to do amazing things.'
Fery, trying to become the second wildcard to reach a major final after Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, kept pushing in the second set but quickly fell behind 1-4 as Zverev raised his intensity. The Centre Court crowd rallied behind Fery after he showed frustration, but Zverev's powerful serve and forehand silenced them.
'I know that 99.99 percent of the stadium wanted Arthur to win, but it was still such an incredible atmosphere,' Zverev added. 'It was such a fair crowd. I enjoyed every second of it.'
Up two sets to love, Zverev continued to dominate and closed out the match in clinical fashion, becoming only the 13th man in the professional era (since 1968) to reach all four Grand Slam finals.
'This Grand Slam's always been the one I struggle with the most, and now all of a sudden, I'm in the final of Wimbledon, so I'm incredibly happy and incredibly proud,' Zverev said. 'But we've got one more match to go on Sunday, and that's where the focus will be.'
Source: www.aljazeera.com