Another chapter has been added to Arthur Fery‘s magical run at the Wimbledon Championships. He continues to move forward as Britain’s only hope from the men’s singles draw and has now recorded an incredible 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the fourth round. But as good as Fery’s performance was, his opponent just wasn’t good enough on the day and was criticized by fans for his display.

This result means that Dimitrov’s Round of 16 curse continues at SW19. He has now lost four consecutive matches at the same stage and hasn’t made it past since 2023. The Bulgarian gained a crucial lead in the match by winning both the second and third sets, but unexpectedly lost his rhythm in the final two sets, resulting in a disappointing defeat.

With his bid to reach the quarterfinals having ended in tears last year after he was forced to retire despite having a two-set lead over Jannik Sinner, this was a great opportunity for Dimitrov to finally break the fourth-round curse. He entered as the favorite, but Fery upset him. Dimitrov had gone neck-and-neck with Fery for most of the first set, and both held serve comfortably through the opening games, neither offering a break point. The tide turned when the local hero gained a crucial break at 5-5, and later served out the set to gain an important advantage.

But Dimitrov came back stronger in the second set. He broke at 4-3 in the eighth game, then held to level the match, which helped him close out the set and level the match. With momentum, Dimitrov broke early in the third set, forcing Fery into a corner.

But Fery refused to fold. Despite Dimitrov’s early break, the Brit fought back, but the Bulgarian eventually closed out the set and took a valuable lead. Despite his dominance, the 35-year-old unraveled in the fourth set. He was cruising towards victory after clinching a double break early in the set, but then threw away his lead and allowed Fery to get both of his breaks back. As the home crowd rallied behind him, Fery ended up making a remarkable comeback and won the set to force the match into a decider.

The decider was tight from the start. Both players made sure not to make any costly mistakes and dragged it to a tiebreaker. But Dimitrov gave away lousy points on his serve while Fery maintained his composure. He won the tiebreaker 10-7 in a match lasting 3 hours 58 minutes.

Despite being the much more experienced player, Dimitrov just couldn’t win the points when it mattered most. It wasn’t a surprise that fans were left frustrated with the way he let the match slip out of his grasp in the final two sets.

Fans slam Grigor Dimitrov after he fumbles big time at Wimbledon

Another fan expressed a similar sentiment about Dimitrov and showered praise on Fery for his performance. “Gutted for Dimitrov. He should’ve closed it out in 4 just like Bergs should have. SMH. Kid has guts, though, and he’s riding the wave. Rooting for Grigor so hard, especially because of last year and his fading chances, but hats off to Fery. He’s resilient.”

There was also a fan who wasn’t surprised at all seeing Dimitrov fumble against a younger player. “Grigor finally gets a scrub after beating highly talented players in the first two rounds, and of course he fumbles it. Sad but not super surprising.”

A fan pointed out that this wasn’t the first time Dimitrov had lost a match where he should have taken the win. “Sadly, this is Dimitrov summed up. Outperforms exceptions every now and then only to follow it up losing matches he should win easily.”

Finally, a fan felt that Dimitrov choked under pressure during the fourth set, and that cost him big time. “That was so pathetic from Dimi. Up a break 2 times on the 4th, then fully choked. Might be time to call it a career.”

The victory sees Fery march into the quarterfinals for the first time at SW19. He has become a crowd favorite with the performances he has been delivering recently. He will be taking on Flavio Cobolli next in what is expected to be another cracker of a contest.