By Tony Fairbairn
- Alexander Zverev [2] def Jacob Fearnley 6-3 6-4 6-4
- Jacob Fearnley described his Australian Open journey as ‘awesome’ after he lost in straight sets to the world number two.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Jacob Fearnley believes the ‘sky is the limit’ for him after his Australian Open journey ended with a straight sets loss to Alexander Zverev.
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An amazing Australian Open journey for Jacob Fearnley but the Brit was outclassed in a straight sets defeat to Alexander Zverev on Margaret Court Arena.
After wins over Nick Kyrgios and Arthur Cazaux, Fearnley was full of confidence that he could pull off the upset.
The Brit’s confidence was increased with a positive start to the match as he cruised through his opening few service games.
Unfortunately for Fearnley, so did Zverev and in the sixth game the German stepped up his game on return to break for a 4-2 lead.
That one break of serve would be enough as Zverev claimed a rapid opening set 6-3 in 30 minutes.
Fearnley was undeterred by the opening set and bounced back in the second set by going to work on Zverev’s serve.
The Brit’s forehand was doing damage once again as he created two break points in the second game.
However Zverev came up clutch to hold for 1-1 as he used his experience and quality to break for a 4-3 lead.
There would be a twist though as Fearnley refused to give up and the Brit took advantage of some passive play from the German to break immediately back.
A break of serve was something Fearnley could walk away from this match with but there was no time to relax as Zverev applied the pressure once again to break back in the next game.
Zverev regrouped this time to hold to love and secure a two set lead as he had weathered the Fearnley storm.
In the third Zverev secured the early break for 2-1 but once again Fearnley broke back with some persistent and aggressive play to level the set at 2-2.
The quality of Zverev would be too strong as he broke for a 3-2 lead and was well on his way to victory.
Fearnley would have one final say in proceedings as he prevented Zverev from securing the double break but the German held comfortably to book his place in the second week.
After the match Fearnley admitted it was tough to maintain an aggressive level throughout the match but praised Zverev for the consistent quality that was produced.
“I like to play aggressive, so obviously it’s going to be difficult for me to kind of maintain that level all the time,” Fearnley told the LTA website.
“He’s (Zverev) extremely solid, and obviously he’s got a massive serve. He chooses the right opportunities to go for the ball. I think for me that will come with experience, just knowing when to maybe go for it and maybe when just to play solid.
“I wanted to try and take it to him as best that I could, because I think if I played too passive, that was going to play into his hands. That’s what I tried to do. I think I don’t have any regrets with how I played the match.”
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Fearnley reflects on ‘awesome’ Australian Open, believes ‘sky is the limit’
It’s been an incredible Australian Open campaign for Fearnley who reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
Reflecting on his journey Fearnley described it as ‘awesome’ as he created more career milestones.
“It’s been awesome. Obviously it was an extremely, extremely good week for me,” Fearnley explained to the LTA website.
“The fans were amazing, I played some incredible matches and had some more incredible experiences. So, yeah, I’m extremely thankful for the last couple of weeks really and I’m looking forward to coming back in the future.”
An incredible week for Fearnley means that the Brit will be in the world’s top 80 for the first time in his career.
This means the Brit can have more experience on the ATP tour and Fearnley believes the ‘sky is the limit’ for his potential.
“I think all I can do is be the best I can be. If I keep working hard and keep doing the right things, then good things will happen – hopefully the sky is the limit,” Fearnley stated to the LTA website.
“I’m just trying to take things day by day, keep improving, and see what I can do and hopefully can win some more matches somewhere down the line.”
Fearnley’s next tournament will be Great Britain’s Davis Cup qualifier away to Japan which will take place on the 31st of January – 1st of February and it will be Fearnley’s first ever Davis Cup call-up.
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