Flavio Cobolli reaching the last eight of Wimbledon in the wake of making his first Grand Slam singles final at the French Open last month is not a surprise.
However, the run of Briton Arthur Fery to the quarter-finals at the All England Club is the stuff of dreams and the wild-card’s fun may not yet be about to end.
It has been clear for a while that the versatile Cobolli is a danger to any opponent on any terrain.
But while the Italian is likely to win the day and progress to the semi-finals in south-west London, he is far from certain to prevail against an opponent whose self-belief could be going through Wimbledon’s roof right now and who can count on receiving the vast majority of crowd support on Wednesday.
Flavio Cobolli v Arthur Fery Tips Summary
Best Bet - Arthur Fery +5.5 games handicap @ 4/5
Alternative Bet - Arthur Fery to win two sets @ 11/8
Bet Builder - Arthur Fery +5.5 games handicap; Arthur Fery to win at least two sets; Over 38.5 games @ 11/5
Flavio Cobolli v Arthur Fery Prediction
Best Bet: Arthur Fery +5.5 games handicap @ 4/5
French-born Fery is the latest English grass-courter to threaten to go all the way at Wimbledon, but in recent years only Andy Murray has completed the journey, doing that on two occasions.
But it’s just possible that, after Murray, Fery is best placed to go closest to being crowned grass-court champion. For one, he grew up in Wimbledon, so this will feel like home to Fery. And while his run to the last eight this year has not included a victory over a seeded opponent, he beat Alexei Popyrin, who was seeded 20th, in the first round of WImbledon 12 months ago.
Cobolli is likely to be difficult to defeat on grass - the Italian is adept on any surface. But in their only previous meeting, Fery beat this year’s All England Club ninth seed in straight sets in the Australian Open in January.
Franking that form may well be tough given Cobolli’s recent runner-up placing to Alexander Zverev on the Paris clay, but the fact that Fery already has a 7-6 6-4 6-1 victory to his name over Italy’s second-best player on a fast court should not be dismissed easily.
If Fery has done it once, he could do it again, so Cobolli may still be some way from emulating Jasmine Paolini’s 2024 achievement of making back-to-back finals in the Paris and London Grand Slams.
Fery is 4/5 getting a handicap start of 5.5 games and that is difficult to quibble with about a player who is adept at fighting back from negative situations against an opponent who is still yet to prove he belongs in the top echelon.
Alternative Bet: Arthur Fery to win at least two sets @ 11/8
Cobolli will look to impose himself on the match from the outset, but following their meeting in Melbourne it is no certainty that the move to grass from hard courts will help the Italian to draw level in their personal series.
Fery is 11/8 to win at least two sets against Cobolli and that too could prove a generous price given that the Briton could be right there in the mix or even possibly dominating his opponent in front of a partisan crowd.
Flavio Cobolli v Arthur Fery Bet Builder Tip
Arthur Fery +5.5 games handicap
Arthur Fery to win at least two sets
Over 38.5 games
Pays 11/5
Punters can consider adding over 38.5 games to be contested to the Fery selections for Bet Builder purposes.
It is unlikely that Fery will repeat his Australian Open straight-sets defeat of Cobolli and the Briton may struggle to frank the form of that win in London.
However, their second encounter may be closer and given that Fery has been taken to five sets in his last two singles outings, he is clearly not uncomfortable when it comes to having to dig deep.
Learn more about how Bet Builders work in our Bet Builder guide.
Key Match Stats
In the pair’s only previous meeting, which took place earlier this year, Arthur Fery beat Flavio Cobolli 7-6 6-4 6-1 in the first round of the Australian Open on a Melbourne hard court in January
Arthur Fery has yet to meet a seeded player in this year’s draw, although he beat Alexei Popyrin, who was seeded 20th, in the first round of Wimbledon last season
Flavio Cobolli, who reached his first Grand Slam singles final in the French Open last month, ousted fifth seed Alex de Minaur in straight sets in his latest Wimbledon outing in the last 16
Arthur Fery reached the quarter-finals at the Queen’s Club last month but was edged out in three sets by Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, who went on to take the title in Barons Court
Arthur Fery’s last two wins at the All England Club this year have been five-set come-from-behind victories over Zizou Bergs and Grigor Dimitrov
Flavio Cobolli has won only one of his four singles outings at Wimbledon this year in straight sets
Read more tennis betting tips and predictions on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
