Controversy has been a central theme at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
Much of the controversy has stemmed from the decision not to award Dan Evans a singles wildcard, despite the Briton announcing his intention to retire from tennis at the event.
Wimbledon organisers then scheduled Evans onto Court 15 – far from a high-profile Wimbledon arena – for his last-ever match as a professional.
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The controversy has not been helped by the poor performances of British players at the tournament.
Of the 17 players competing in the singles draws, only one has advanced to the third round.
That player is Arthur Fery – who has, quite bizarrely, been scheduled to play on Court 18 for his third-round contest.
The decision to schedule Arthur Fery on Court 18 makes no sense
With only one British representative remaining, one would have expected Arthur Fery to have been granted the opportunity to play on Court One or Centre Court for his third-round match against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.
Even Fery expected to be scheduled onto one of the show courts after defeating Otto Virtanen in the second round.
“No idea. I’m not going to speculate. Yeah, I assume so,” Fery said of his chances of playing on Court One or Centre Court in the third round.
“I assume one of those courts, yeah. It will be great to have a lot of people watching and a lot of support.”
With Fery being overlooked for Centre Court and Court One, British players have now made more unwanted tennis history.
For the first time this century, no British player will play singles on Centre Court in the first week of Wimbledon.
Centre Court schedule for Saturday, July 4
- Alexandra Eala vs Iga Swiatek
- Amanda Anisimova vs Madison Keys
- Grigor Dimitrov vs Matteo Berrettini
With this unfortunate piece of history in mind, one can only conclude that the Wimbledon organisers have yet again made a diabolical decision.
Fery should have been scheduled on one of the show courts. He has earned that opportunity throughout the last two weeks, winning three qualifying matches and two main-draw contests.
Moreover, the schedule for Court One – in particular – is not particularly inspiring in any way, shape or form.
Surely Fery’s performances – along with his status as an up and coming British player – have been more than enough to warrant the 23-year-old being granted the opportunity to play in one of tennis’ great stadiums.
According to the Wimbledon decision makers, he has not.
Court One schedule for Saturday, July 4
- Elise Mertens vs Elena Rybakina
- Marcos Giron vs Alexander Zverev
- Frances Tiafoe vs Alexander Bublik
Of course, Court 18 is a show court at Wimbledon and British tennis fans will most certainly be raucous in their support for Fery on Saturday.
However, it is a crying shame that Wimbledon have yet again made a poor decision – one that has denied a young British player the opportunity of a lifetime.
Who could Arthur Fery play in the fourth round?
If Fery defeats Bergs on Saturday, he will play either Matteo Berrettini or Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round.
Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist, has beaten Stan Wawrinka and Arthur Fils en route to the third round.
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Dimitrov, an ATP Finals champion, has defeated Dane Sweeny and 15th seed Jakub Mensik.
Fery has never played Berrettini nor Dimitrov on the ATP Tour.
Dimitrov and Berrettini are scheduled to contest their third-round match at 3:50 pm British Summer Time [BST]
Fery is set to play Bergs at 1:40 pm.
