LONDON, England -- Arthur Fery's dream run at Wimbledon came to an end on Friday as he was soundly beaten by German Alexander Zverev in the semifinal.
Fery, who got into the tournament via a wild card, was beaten 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 by the second seed.
It brought the curtain down on what was the feel-good story of the tournament, with Fery becoming the first wild card in 25 years to reach the Wimbledon men's singles semifinals. He was also the only British singles player to progress past the second round.
The 23-year-old, whose birthday is on Sunday, the same day as the final he just missed out on, overcame significant odds to get to Friday's match, beating former world No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round and ninth seed Flavio Cobolli in straight sets in the quarterfinal to set up the clash with Zverev.
While his run had many British fans hoping the "Fery-tale" would go all the way, Zverev proved a step too far as he overpowered and out-played his rival for the most part.
Fery took it to his opponent in the opening set, breaking back to force a tie-break.
The 6-foot-6 German fired down several big serves which touched 135 mph early on, but Fery looked to have a reasonable response as he scrapped through the first few games and showed no signs of nerves.
However, Zverev swept to a 7-0 win in the tie-break to stamp his authority on the match and never looked like losing from that point on.
By the second set, Zverev was generating huge power in his shots and his serve was ominous. Frustrations started to boil for Fery as Zverev swept to a 6-2 victory in the second set with a double break to put himself on the brink of victory.
He held to love at 5-2, asserting his dominance and subduing the previously feisty Centre Court crowd. By then, Zverev's progression to the final was inevitable.
Fery continued to fight as he received encouragement from the crowd, but he truly met his match in Zverev, who eased to the finish line, winning the final set 6-4.
The pair shared a few words at the net and while Zverev was congratulated for his commanding performance, the final applause was mostly for Fery.
"I have to give credit to Arthur. Unbelievable player, he's going to be a senior citizen on our tour because I think he is going to play on this tour for 15 plus years," Zverev said of his opponent on court.
"I think this was just the beginning of his career.
"I really think he is going to do amazing things in this sport. I know that 99.99% of the stadium was wanting Arthur to win but it was still such an incredible atmosphere with such a fair crowd, I enjoyed every second of it.
"A lot of stadiums in the world can learn from this crowd. It's one of the best crowds to play tennis in front of."
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Fery, who lives a short distance from the All England Club in Wimbledon, had provided British fans with one final hope after 10 singles players were dumped out of the tournament on the opening day.
He was the only domestic player to reach the second week and provided fans with some incredible moments.
Fery has also done his career the world of good. Having come into the tournament ranked 114th in the world, he finishes Wimbledon as the world. No 36. He will also pocket £900,000 in prize money ($1.2 million).