Preview: Wimbledon: Flavio Cobolli vs. Arthur Fery - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

Fresh off extending his Wimbledon Fery-tale, British wildcard Arthur Fery will take on Flavio Cobolli on Wednesday for a place in the Grand Slam's semi-final.  

The 23-year-old came back from two sets to one down to defeat Grigor Dimitrov in the penultimate match on Centre Court on Monday, hours after Cobolli downed Alex de Minaur in straight sets. 

Match preview

This is all new to Fery, who is undeniably riding the wave of the momentum of the deepest Grand Slam run of his embryonic career.  

Having never been past the second round of any Major, Fery has secured four on the trot at SW19 to reach the quarter-finals of the Championships.  

The 23-year-old has had to take the scenic route too, coming from two sets to one down in the third and fourth rounds to defeat Zizou Bergs and Dimitrov.  

The former came after he was a double break down in the fourth set before a roaring fightback; the latter saw the home hope somehow find a way against Dimitrov, who held a 4-3 lead only for the Brit to reel off three consecutive games to force a decider.  

Fery then claimed a topsy-turvy 10-point tiebreak at the end to secure a 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(10-7) triumph with Roger Federer in the Royal Box, consequently joining Pat Cash (1986), Goran Ivanisevic (2001), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2009) and Nick Kyrgios (2014) as the previous Wimbledon wildcards to reach the last eight.  

Only Ivanisevic went on to claim the title, and while Fery is still some way away from emulating the Croat, the former Stanford University star can surely dream.  

© Iconsport / PA Images

That feeling is given some more weight considering that he has already stunned Cobolli this year, even if the obvious caveat comes with the Italian not being a Grand Slam finalist at the time.  

Since that defeat Down Under, the 2025 Wimbledon quarter-finalist has captured the title on the hard courts of Acapulco, reached the title match on the clay courts of Munich and made it to a maiden final of a Major in Paris, losing to Alexander Zverev.  

Twelve months ago saw the 24-year-old break new ground by advancing to this stage of a Slam for the first time before falling in four to idol Novak Djokovic, albeit being a pyrrhic victory for the Serbian star who suffered an injury at the end.  

Back at this stage a year on, a significantly better player now used to handling big occasions aims to drown out the noise of a partisan home support to reach a maiden Wimbledon semi-final and consecutive last-four matches at this level.  

There is reason to be optimistic, as Cobolli holds a 4-1 record in quarter-finals this year, losing only to Zverev in Munich, and he seeks a fifth victory at this stage in 2026 to break new ground on the lawns of SW19. 

Tournament so far

Flavio Cobolli:

First round: vs. Mariano Navone 1-6 7-6(5) 6-3 7-6(8)

Second round: vs. James Duckworth 7-6(4) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-1

Third round: vs. Karen Khachanov 0-6 7-6(4) 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2

Fourth round: vs. Alex de Minaur 7-5 7-6(4) 6-3

Arthur Fery:

First round: vs. Damir Dzumhur 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-1

Second round: vs. Otto Virtanen 5-7 7-6(3) 6-3 6-3

Third round: vs. Zizou Bergs 2-6 7-5 2-6 7-6(3) 7-6(5)

Fourth round: vs. Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6(7)

Head To Head

Australian Open (2026) - First round: Fery 7-6(1) 6-4 6-1

Fery interestingly leads Cobolli 1-0 in their ATP head-to-head, with the Brit beating the 2025 Wimbledon quarter-finalist earlier this year at the Australian Open in straight sets.  

That victory marked the 23-year-old's second main-draw triumph at a Slam until his ongoing surge into the Championships' quarter-final on home turf, as Cobolli suffered consecutive tournament-opening defeats at the Aussie Open and third overall after his round-one exit at the French Open three years ago.  

Much has changed for both players since, especially for Cobolli, who enters another last-eight match at the All England Club with significant experience of navigating big moments at this level, possibly giving him the edge over the wildcard.

We say: Cobolli to win in four sets

Apart from playing consecutive five-set matches en route to a first Grand Slam quarter-final, Fery faces an opponent determined to right the wrongs of that straight-set defeat Down Under in January.  

Considering the Italian's superior level, Cobolli is backed to beat an opponent who may not have as much gas left in the tank, thereby breaking new ground by reaching a first semi-final at the All England Club.