Tensions were high on Center Court as Arthur Fery took Alexander Zverev in the Wimbledon semifinal, which saw the home favorite have a small tiff with the chair umpire early in the first set. Fery was unhappy with a call, prompting him to question the tournament’s reliance on technology.

“I mean this one was even more obvious than the first one, even more. There’s no machine? It’s just you?”, Fery was heard saying to chair umpire, Marijana Veljovic. During the first set, it was Zverev who secured a crucial break to go 3-1 up and had a 15-0 lead on his first set, when Fery made his complaints known about what he felt was a “let” call. However, the umpire was adamant in her decision, allowing the point to the German player.

Chair umpires had sensors in the net cords that sent them a signal if a serve clipped the cord, helping them make the ‘let’ call. However, at this year’s Wimbledon, it is a completely manual process, with the discretion resting with the chair umpire to make the call without the aid of any technology. Federer is not the only player who has gotten the short end of the stick in this regard, with Novak Djokovic also letting his displeasure be known in the match against Felix Auger-Aliassime, when the Canadian was awarded an ace even though the Serb was convinced that the shot had clipped the cord.

However, in the Fery match, the early let call seemed to spur on the home favorite to break back, putting the first set back on serve. The British player held his serve until the tiebreaker, but was blanked 7-0, as Zverev took control of the match decisively. The British player had another complaint in the second set as well, once again confronting Veljovic about the let call, but to no avail.

In the second set, however, the British player could channel his frustration into his tennis, as the German player secured a double break to go 4-1 up.

Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon Campaign Is Hanging by a Thread

Whether it be the confrontations with the chair umpire or the mental pressure of playing in your maiden Major semifinal, Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon campaign is in dire straits as the Brit is on the ropes in his semifinal match against Alexander Zverev. The 23-year-old had gone toe-to-toe with the German in the first in the tiebreak, but that is when the real gulf in quality between the two showed. Zverev, with his solid serve and aggressive forehand, reeled off seven points in a row, taking the first set.

After going down 1-4 in the second set with a double break, there was little that Fery could do to salvage the set, as his opponent won it 6-2. No player has ever come back from a two-set-to-love deficit to win a Wimbledon semifinal. The closest happened in 2001, when Goran Ivanisevic took down home favorite Tim Henman in a famous match after being down two sets to one, with the Croatian going on to win the title as well.

Fery does have similarities with Ivanisevic as both are wildcard players, with the Croatian being the only one to win a Major with a wildcard. If Fery has to replicate the 2001 magic, the Brit needs to play out of his skin against an opponent who is coming on the back of having won his maiden Major title at the French Open.