Arthur Fery revealed the Queen gave him her royal seal of approval after his sensational victory over Fabio Cobolli secured his place in the Wimbledon semi-final.
Fery produced one of the all-time great British performances at the All England Club to beat ninth seed and French Open finalist Cobolli in straight sets to reach the final four.
The 23-year-old’s 6-4, 7-6, 6-0 triumph saw him become only the second wildcard in history to reach the semi-finals after Goran Ivanisevic, who went on to lift the title in 2001 – before Fery was even born.
After playing his quarter-final in front of the Roger Federer, the king of Centre Court, he notched up yet another remarkable win in front of Queen Camilla.
Queen Camilla applauds Arthur Fery from the Royal Box at the end of his epic victory
Fery now faces a tricky task against world No2 Alexander Zverev on Friday
Fery will face French Open champion Alexander Zverev in the semi-final and, should he get through, will have the chance to lift the Wimbledon trophy on his 24th birthday.
Her Majesty had earlier sneaked up behind Fery as he was about to walk out on to court to wish Britain’s newest star good luck but he revealed she also sought him out afterwards for some further words of encouragement.
‘We were getting ready to come on and she came to say hello, she introduced herself to both me and Flavio,’ said Fery. ‘It’s obviously an honour to play in front of her. It was great to meet her. She had some really kind words to me at the end, as well. Playing in front of tennis legends and now the Queen, it’s special.
‘She was waiting for me at the end of the match. She congratulated me. I told her how much of an honour it was for me to play in front of her. She just said: “Congratulations, keep going”.’
‘I told her it was my birthday on Sunday, so it would be great to play the Wimbledon final on my birthday.’
