You have to feel for Arthur Fery and his troublesome nosebleed, now he finds himself up in the rarified air of Wimbledon's second week.
The last British singles player standing secured his place in the fourth round in a five-set epic against Belgium's Zizou Bergs, winning 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-7 7-6.
And there was no shortage of talking points after the longest match of these Championships so far, lasting four hours and 38 minutes.
Eyebrows were raised when the referees' office put Fery, who becomes the first British male wildcard to reach the last 16 since Andrew Foster in 1993, on Court 18.
In the shadow of Henman Hill - or perhaps Arthur's Seat - the 23-year-old shrugged aside any suggestion of a snub to win a thriller.
Arthur Fery's moment on Court 18! #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/BOUozDWVT3
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2026
But Bergs, ranked 80 places higher than the British number three, was clearly rattled by the repeated medical time-outs Fery took for a persistent nosebleed.
It has happened in every match here, and more recently at Queen's Club, and the trainer was first on court after just four games before making frequent return visits with a box of tissues.
Bergs, who took a long medical break of his own after losing the fourth set from a winning position, expressed his frustration after an interruption late in the deciding set.
And after surrendering tamely in the deciding tie-break, he looked ready to explode as he trudged off into the evening sunshine.
In truth, he had only himself to blame. Bergs had total control of the match, but Fery refused to be beaten in a display of resilience and guts that, regardless of what happens next, will be life-changing.
First there is a career-high cheque for a minimum of £300,000, but he'll also break into the world's top 100, meaning direct qualification for the Grand Slams and lucrative ATP Tour Masters 1000 events.
ARTHUR FERY IN FIVEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! 😍
Absolutely insane from @ArthurFery02 to make the @Wimbledon fourth round#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/xklF6kb0Lb— LTA (@the_LTA) July 4, 2026
"I know the nosebleeds are a problem and I'm going to address them. It has happened before but it's not that common," said Fery.
"It happened at times when I didn't want to stop, when momentum was with me. I know it's annoying for the opponent. It gives me some extra time to rest sometimes, I guess.
"I've no words for it. I don't know what is going on right now. It will take time to digest it.
"I just tried to stay in the match, just backing myself as a competitor. I was down for pretty much the whole match, managed to come back from two breaks down and 4-1 in the fifth, and just tried to put up as much of a fight as I could."
Bergs fought back the tears as he tried to work out how a match that looked at his mercy slipped away but refused to blame Fery's nosebleed issues for his sudden lapse in form and concentration when it really mattered.
"I put myself in the position to win the match but it just didn't fall my side today and he played better when it mattered," he said.
Alex de Minaur believes this could finally be the Grand Slam where he makes his long-promised breakthrough after the Australian beat Zachary Svajda 6-2 5-7 6-2 6-4 to set up a fourth-round match with Roland Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli, who was pushed the distance over four hours by 19th seed Karen Khachanov.
"I feel like I'm where I want to be but I'm going to need to step up another level for Flavio," said De Minaur. "I'm in a good position and the body's feeling good. Mentally I'm feeling fresh and I think this is when I'm at my most dangerous."
This match was also affected by a lengthy medical time-out when Svajda called for the physio after falling a break behind in the third set, attracting the ire of former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, who was fortunate he wasn't watching Fery's match later in the day.
"I'm so against this. The doctors need to stand up and go, 'No, this is not an injury. Play on,'" said Cash.
"Here's my new rule: anything beyond the fourth set in the men's, unless you twist your ankle or roll something or run into the net post or whatever, you shouldn't get a medical time-out."
Elsewhere, second seed Alexander Zverev continued his all-business progress through the first week with a confident 6-2 7-5 6-4 win over France's Marcos Giron, ranked 90 places below him.
"I'm playing a lot better than I have done the previous years here at Wimbledon," said the French Open winner. "I feel like this year for some reason the tournament is kind of just getting started.”
For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk.
