Key events<\/p>\n
Housekeeping: while Katy was regaling you with yesterday\u2019s brilliant women\u2019s semis, I was lucky enough to be on No 1 Court for the men\u2019s doubles, watching Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara make it through to their second Wimbledon<\/a> final \u2013 they won it in 2024 \u2013 and their second grand slam final in a row \u2013 they lost in Paris.<\/p>\n It was a terrific match too, played in front of a riveted and near-capacity crowd, making an absolute nonsense of those claiming no one\u2019s interested in doubles and seeking to take money from doubles players and give it to those already doing very nicely from singles. They meet Arevalo and Pavic in tomorrow\u2019s final; do no miss it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Also going on:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n The difference between sportsfolk who make it and sportsfolk who don\u2019t is not talent. Which, for those of us with none, is hard to fathom, but the reality is more people have it than we think. What separates those who succeed from those who don\u2019t \u2013 apart, from opportunity \u2013 is mentality.<\/p>\n Everyone is struggling with something \u2013 a fact we do well to remember when sitting in judgment, whether on ourselves or others. More or less, whatever our particular thing is, it will relate to emotional regulation and letting big feelings manage us, instead of the other way around. Whether we\u2019re prone to anger or sadness, excitability or apathy, recklessness or anxiety, the challenge is not to ignore those sensations \u2013 feeling feelings is good for us \u2013 but to note their arrival, process their meaning, then let them pass because everything does.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, these are tests imposed on us in front of a live or global audience \u2013 but it\u2019s fun to imagine the reactions if they were! Sportsfolk, on the other hand, act out hyperreal fantasies, experiencing the very best and very worst, buzzing or gutted, gutted or buzzing, butted or guzzing, and are asked to deliver the best version of themselves before, during and after. We can understand playing brilliantly because we see it as something innate that we simply can\u2019t do, just as those who can may not be able to do whatever it is we do on a daily. But life asks all of us to keep ourselves in check when circumstances are adverse, and, er, um, well.<\/p>\n Arthur Fery is so good at this it\u2019s almost disconcerting. His first four matches in this tournament were won from behind and in fifth-set deciders, two of which required match tiebreakers, Then, in the last eight and as Flavio Cobolli \u2013 who, just a month ago, went five sets in the French Open final \u2013 disintegrated, he again showed no sign of nerves or panic, calmly but viciously charging through the tape like it was nothing. It was not nothing.<\/p>\n So this afternoon, the first British wildcard to reach the semis faces Alexander Zverev<\/a> and you know what? He\u2019s got a chance. Obviously the Roland-Garros champ is the favourite \u2013 he looked ominously good in dismantling Taylor Fritz the other day \u2013 but though they\u2019ve improved, his forehand and volleying are still weaknesses, and though, now finally a grand slam winner, he may be able to compensate with confidence, he is still not entirely comfortable on grass.<\/p>\n Fery, though is a natural. His backhand, in particular, is a sensational shot, one he takes so early it\u2019s almost prehumous and which he can use to rush Zverev \u2013 who, let us not forget, remains unrenowned for equilibrium under pressure. With the crowd behind him, he\u2019ll believe he can do anything \u2013 another feeling beyond the ambit of those of us not cut out for elite sport \u2013 and maybe, just maybe, he\u2019ll create history.<\/p>\n