Alexander Zverev Melaju ke Final Wimbledon 2026 Usai Tekuk Arthur Fery

Petenis asal Jerman Alexander Zverev berhasil melaju ke babak final Wimbledon 2026 setelah menumbangkan petenis wildcard tuan rumah Arthur Fery pada pertandingan semifinal hari Jumat, 10 Juli 2026.

Dilansir dari BBC dan Bein Sports, Zverev yang merupakan unggulan kedua sekaligus juara Prancis Terbuka tampil dominan untuk menghentikan kejutan Fery lewat kemenangan tiga set langsung 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, dan 6-4.

Hasil ini mengantarkan Zverev ke final Wimbledon pertamanya sepanjang karier, setelah dalam sembilan penampilan sebelumnya di All England Club tidak pernah melangkah melampaui babak keempat.

Kemenangan tersebut juga mencatatkan rekor bagi Zverev sebagai pria Jerman ketiga di Era Terbuka yang sukses mencapai final di keempat turnamen Grand Slam, mengikuti jejak Boris Becker dan Michael Stich.

"I was meant to be going to Greece with some friends. We'll see if that's still in the cards," kata Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Fery semula berniat berlibur, namun penampilannya yang luar biasa membawa petenis berusia 23 tahun itu menembus semifinal dan diproyeksikan melonjak ke peringkat 36 dunia serta berhak atas hadiah 900.000 poundsterling.

"One of my friends went ahead of time, hoping I would lose so I could join him. He came back two days later and was supporting me," tutur Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Petenis tuan rumah ini sempat memberikan perlawanan sengit di set pertama sebelum akhirnya Zverev merebut tujuh poin beruntun pada sesi tie-break untuk mengamankan keunggulan.

"I'm glad that I kept going, kept going in this tournament," ucap Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Sebelum dihentikan Zverev, Fery mencetak sensasi besar dengan menumbangkan mantan petenis nomor tiga dunia Grigor Dimitrov dan unggulan kesembilan Flavio Cobolli di babak perempat final.

"It would have been easy to just, for example, let Zizou Bergs [in the third round] run away with his two breaks in the fourth [set] and, as you say, go on holiday and come back," ujar Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Kekalahan ini menjadi batas akhir perjuangan Fery yang mengakui keunggulan level permainan sang lawan yang kini dipastikan menggeser Carlos Alcaraz di peringkat dua dunia.

"I just kept fighting, came back to the match court every time and gave my best. I was mentally locked in," kata Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Fery mengakui dirinya kekurangan energi di partai semifinal ini dan menghadapi lawan yang berada satu tingkat di atas performa terbaiknya saat itu.

"I lacked a bit of that today. It might have been just a step too far. The opponent was a step up again," tutur Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Pencapaian ini dipastikan mengubah peta karier Fery untuk masuk langsung ke turnamen-turnamen besar tanpa harus melalui kualifikasi.

"It's going to change things, for sure," ucap Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Fery kini harus mempersiapkan diri menghadapi ekspektasi publik dan dirinya sendiri setelah lonjakan prestasi yang masif ini.

"It's going to be interesting to see, important to see how I deal with that change and everything that that brings in terms of expectations from myself, from the public, from everyone," ujar Arthur Fery, Petenis Britania Raya.

Di sisi lain, Zverev merasa sangat bahagia bisa memecahkan kebuntuannya selama ini di turnamen Grand Slam lapangan rumput tersebut.

"This Grand Slam has always been the one that I have struggled with most, and all of a sudden I am in the final so I am incredibly happy," kata Alexander Zverev, Petenis Jerman.

Zverev juga memuji kegigihan Fery dan memprediksi masa depan yang cerah bagi pemain muda Britania Raya tersebut di tur profesional.

"I have to give credit to Arthur – he's an unbelievable player. He's going to be a senior citizen on our Tour because I think he is going to play for 15-plus years," tutur Alexander Zverev, Petenis Jerman.

Zverev menambahkan bahwa Fery baru memulai kariernya dan diyakini akan melakukan hal-hal luar biasa dalam dunia tenis.

"This is just the beginning of his career. I really think he is going to do amazing things in this sport," ucap Alexander Zverev, Petenis Jerman.

Zverev juga mengapresiasi atmosfer penonton di Centre Court Wimbledon yang tetap adil meskipun mayoritas mendukung pemain lokal.

"For me, something incredible here is, yes, I know that 99.9% of this stadium was wanting Arthur to win, but it was still such an incredible atmosphere and a fair crowd as well," ujar Alexander Zverev, Petenis Jerman.

Petenis Jerman ini menilai penonton di Wimbledon merupakan salah satu publik terbaik untuk bertanding tenis.

"I enjoyed every second of it. For me, I think a lot of stadiums in the world should follow the example of this crowd. For me, it's one of the best crowds to play tennis in front of," kata Alexander Zverev, Petenis Jerman.

Zverev menyatakan rasa bangganya terhadap tim penasihatnya dan siap fokus menghadapi satu pertandingan sisa di partai puncak.

"I'm incredibly proud of my team and everyone involved, and we have one match to go on Sunday," tutur Alexander Zverev, Petenis Jerman.

Pada pertandingan final hari Minggu, Alexander Zverev dijadwalkan menghadapi juara bertahan Jannik Sinner.