Fery uses 'dishonesty' row to fuel Wimbledon win

Damir Dzumhur and Arthur Fery exchange wordsImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Dzumhur and Fery (right) exchanged words at the net after their first career meeting

By
BBC Sport tennis news reporter at Wimbledon
  • Published

Britain's Arthur Fery was accused of dishonesty by Bosnian opponent Damir Dzumhur following a row over a let call which proved instrumental in the home player's Wimbledon victory.

Wildcard Fery, 23, fought back from a set and 2-0 down to beat 34-year-old Dzumhur in a 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-1 victory.

Afterwards Fery tried to downplay the incident, saying he feels Dzumhur creates controversy "with everyone".

The match turned on an incident in the fourth game of the second set when Dzumhur thought his serve at 15-30 had caught the tape.

Umpire Greg Allensworth did not call a let, leading to Dzumhur complaining to the official and asking Fery if he could "look into" his eyes and "be honest".

Fery said he did not stop playing the point and Dzumhur stared at the Briton down the court before being broken back for 2-2.

"I wouldn't be able to play knowing that I did something that maybe is not true," Dzumhur said afterwards.

"I felt like he stopped, nobody called let. I didn't ask him to replay but just to be honest, because I would do that. Obviously we are not all the same."

Damir Dzumur argues with the chair umpireImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Dzumhur was handed a warning by chair umpire Greg Allensworth for his protestations

Fery, who is ranked 114th in the world, claimed he expected the Bosnian to try to unsettle him and was unperturbed by "dealing with confrontation".

"To be honest, it probably benefited me in a certain way because I was a bit slow and a bit heavy in my legs," said Fery.

"So that got the spark ignited in me and I just got myself going."

Instead it was Dzumhur whose momentum was disrupted, going on to win only three out of 19 games following the incident.

Fery used earplugs in the changeovers following the incident as Dzumhur continued to sound off at Allensworth.

The players exchanged a terse handshake - and a few more words - after Fery became the first British man to reach the Wimbledon second round.

Fery goes on to play Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen, who caused the biggest shock so far by beating American fourth seed Ben Shelton.

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