It took just 20 minutes into one of the most significant occasions of Jacob Fearnley’s uncommonly short professional tennis career for the 23-year-old to receive evidence of the soaring level required to consistently trouble the very best tennis players in the world.
With the score at 2-3, 0-15 early in his first grand slam third round match, Fearnley had swept to the net behind an excellent combination of vicious forehands, a strong move that would have comfortably earned him the point against his earlier opponents. Instead, he watched on helplessly as Alexander Zverev effortlessly tracked down his approach shot and pounded a backhand passing shot straight down the line for a clean winner.
After two intense hours on Margaret Court Arena, Fearnley departed his first overseas grand slam tournament having earned a valuable lesson rather than a transcendent triumph as he was outplayed 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 by the second seed on Friday afternoon. Across three competitive sets, Zverev demonstrated his far greater consistency, focus and experience as he returned to the fourth round of the Australian Open.
“I think he’s an incredible player,” said Zverev. “He went through all the stages, he went to college, went through futures and challengers. Now he’s on the big stage, playing in the third round of a grand slam. I have massive respect for him and he has a [great] future.”
In the seven months since Fearnley began to focus on building a professional tennis career after college, he has already experienced milestones that some spend an entire career working towards. Fearnley has won numerous ATP Challenger titles, broken into the top 100 and faced Novak Djokovic on Centre Court at Wimbledon in his first grand slam appearance, winning a set in the process.
Now his first experience as a direct entrant into a grand slam yielded a third round meeting with Zverev in a massive stadium. Fearnley had plenty of reason to feel completely unprepared for this challenge given his lack of experience, but his ability and hard work have already made it clear that he belongs on the ATP tour.
Despite the nerves that surely followed him on-court, Fearnley settled quickly with two solid service holds, but at 2-3 two meek unforced errors from the Scotsman immediately followed Zverev’s backhand passing shot winner and the German broke serve. As Fearnley struggled badly to read and return Zverev’s monstrous serve, he ended the set repeatedly stretching out his back before taking a medical timeout before the second set.
During his rise up the rankings, Fearnley has made a mark on the ATP tour with a distinctive brand of tennis. He is armed with a consistent first serve and a potent, whippy forehand that he constantly searches for to impose himself on opponents. At 6ft and relatively slight in build, Fearnley also has to find other ways to hurt the many bigger and stronger opponents on the tour, such as the 6ft 6in Zverev. He pairs his offensive game style with a willingness to close down the net and solid athleticism.
From the very start of the second set, he finally began to unfurl those layers of his game. As he eviscerated forehands and moved into the forecourt, Fearnley controlled the majority of the exchanges and he was on level terms with Zverev for much of the match, but the significant difference between them was in the details.
While Fearnley showed off his ample strengths, he also betrayed his inexperience at the highest level. His focus dwindled at some point in each of the three sets, leading to messy, unfocused service games. His flat two-handed backhand was also vulnerable against Zverev’s brilliant two-hander. Across the net, as he moved confidently towards his 468th tour-level win compared to Fearnley’s paltry count of four, Zverev effortlessly maintained his consistency, focus and high level from start to finish.
Fearnley closed out his first Australian odyssey still, amusingly, unbeaten against all players outside of the top two at grand slam tournaments having also lost to a world No 2, Novak Djokovic, in his only other grand slam main draw appearance at Wimbledon. This defeat closed a deeply impressive week that saw him hold his nerve in total chaos to defeat Nick Kyrgios in straight sets before taking advantage of a great opportunity in round two against Arthur Cazaux. He will rise to a new career high ranking around No 77 after the tournament.
As his old friend Jack Draper has repeatedly noted throughout this week, this is only the beginning for Fearnley and the more experience he gains, the more he will learn about what he needs to do to defeat the best players in the world.
