Andy Schooler previews Friday’s Wimbledon men’s singles semi-finals – Arthur Fery v Alex Zverev and the blockbuster between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
Today's Wimbledon tips: Friday July 10
1pt Alex Zverev to beat Arthur Fery 3-0 at 11/10 (General)
0.5pt Jannik Sinner to win from behind in sets at 7/2 (William Hill)
Arthur Fery v Alex Zverev (1330 BST)
Fair play to Fery. His run to this stage has been one of the most remarkable stories I’ve seen in following tennis over many decades.
It’s always hard to fathom how a player ranked outside the top 100 – in this case, one who didn’t even get into the main draw via his ranking – is able to go so far.
But it also happened at the recent French Open with Matteo Arnaldi and it proves a point for those who laud the strength of depth in the sport.
Fery’s success on the lawns of the All England Club is all the more baffling given his 5ft 9in height which denies him the chance to launch down serves in the same way as many of his contemporaries.
Yet his all-round game has sparkled, particularly in recent days with Flavio Cobolli and Grigor Dimitrov both beaten.
The forehand was outstanding against Cobolli, albeit it’s fair to say the Italian didn’t put up the greatest fight, producing too many errors.
Winning that one in straight sets was good news for Fery, who had lost six sets in his opening four matches.
Having so much tennis in the legs isn’t great heading into a semi-final – adrenaline will only get you so far.
In comparison, Zverev has sauntered through the draw, losing only two sets. He smashed Taylor Fritz in the last eight although, again, the opposition wasn’t at its best, the American’s knee issues returning to scupper my outright pick.
That was always a fear – as was Zverev using his French Open victory as a springboard to further success.
I’m not surprised at all that the German hasn’t done much wrong so far and as wonderful as Fery’s run has been, I believe this is another step or two up for the Briton.
Zverev has only lost his serve four times in five matches and it’s a shot that’s worked very well for him this season – prior to this event, he had already won 88% of his service games in 2026.
With Fery having not faced the delivery before, I suspect he will struggle to get into return games early on and if Zverev does get on top early, I can see him running away with this, even though the Centre Court crowd are going to be very much against him.
A straight-sets win for Zverev is no great price but it’s what I envisage happening, even if Fery’s stunning run means I’m not totally convinced in my decision.
Jannik Sinner v Novak Djokovic (to follow SF1)
I remember writing back in January about how Sinner’s recent dominance in this match-up would likely see him sweep Djokovic aside in the Australian Open semi-finals.
I was duly left with egg on my face as the Serb battled to a famous five-set victory at odds as big as 11/1.
It’s fair to say few saw that coming but as they prepare to meet again, you wonder whether Djokovic, this time around the 7/2 mark, has found a key to unlocking the Sinner problem or whether normal service is about to resume.
Sinner had won five in a row, losing just one set, prior to that Melbourne encounter but Djokovic turned the tables with two main tactics.
First, he went big on the forehand whenever he got the chance, notably raising his shot speed. Secondly, he regularly went up the middle of the court, refusing to give Sinner angles to work with.
The problem now is those tactics won’t come as a surprise and Sinner, alongside coaches Darren Cahill and Simone Vagnozzi, will have come up with a counter plan.
Some will wonder whether Sinner in the sort of form to execute it. He’s not been at his best this fortnight, although the fact is that after being taken the distance by Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, he hasn’t dropped a set.
At this tournament, he’s won 85% of points behind a first serve that has improved in 2026; that’s 10 percentage points higher than Djokovic.
However, the Serb has the edge on second-serve points won (61% v 53%), although Sinner does hold a notable advantage on that metric in their head-to-head series (57% to 51%).
Is Djokovic playing well enough to topple a below-par Sinner? Probably. He was impressive in seeing off Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday.
However, my worry with Djokovic now is a familiar one – and it will also be a concern for the man himself.
Djokovic needed more than five hours to see off FAA and he also dropped sets to Yibing Wu, Arthur Rinderknech and Roman Safiullin earlier in the tournament.
Djokovic has himself admitted that beating Sinner (and Carlos Alcaraz) over five sets is very difficult at this stage of a tournament, especially when the 39-year-old body is aching – and we’ve seen the familiar physical struggles, at times, in recent matches.
Given that, I can very much see Djokovic being able to live with Sinner early on before he begins to fade.
With that in mind, Sinner to win from a set behind looks a tempting price of 7/2.
That’s exactly how Djokovic lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open final following his shock victory over Sinner.
What I haven’t mentioned so far is the potential for Sinner to fade, too.
Djokovic may well feel that if he is able to drag the Italian into the four-hour trench in 30C heat, Sinner will be the one whose body lets him down. That was the case when it was brutally hot at the French Open just over a month ago when Sinner’s 30-match win streak finally came to an end.
In short, I’m finding it difficult to be confident about how this plays out.
I’ll go with a small-stakes play on what I feel is a price which could represent some value and that’s the comeback win for Sinner.
Posted 18:45 BST on 08/07/2026
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