Rising star Jacob Fearnley silenced the raucous crowd to beat home favourite Nick Kyrgios in straight sets on his Australian Open debut.
The Scottish sensation, 23, had to overcome a hostile atmosphere at the John Cain Arena arena but came through with flying colours by cruising to a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 7-6 (7-2) victory. Fearnley – who has soared more than 400 places in the past seven months to a career-high world ranking of No. 86 – faced a wounded animal in Kyrgios. Playing his first home Grand Slam for three years, the maverick Australian was handed a wildcard but clearly came up second best as injuries continue to hamper him.
Still, high-flying Fearnley showed incredible resilience to quieten the boisterous home fans in one of the most talked-about matches of the season. Speaking on court to John McEnroe afterwards, Fearnley showed his class by saying: “I was obviously extremely nervous before the match and didn’t get too much sleep. I knew it was going to be a rowdy match. I thought I played good. Sorry for Nick, I can tell he was dealing with some stuff but I thought it was a great match and I really enjoyed playing in front of you guys.”
The Edinburgh-born star was jeered by some sections of the pro-Kyrgios crowd but stuck to his pre-match plan, adding: “I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to get you guys on my side, so I just had to focus on myself and try and play my game and do the best I could to try and move past every point.”
Fearnley – who only turned professional last spring – came through the college circuit in America but admitted nothing could prepare him for his first appearance at Melbourne Park. He said: “I think I’ve definitely never experienced anything like this. But I’ve definitely had some heckles thrown my way over my four-and-a-half years at TCU. It definitely helped, but I think an experience like this will definitely help me going forward.”
Tennis bad boy Kyrgios was vocal on court as he got the Australian-dominated crowd going. And British No. 3 Fearnley confessed it was hard to ignore the persistent muttering, adding: “I just focused on my team, leaning on them and everyone I had with me was important. I knew that going into the match and that was something we talked about. But it was difficult to keep my composure for sure, I had to fight to do it, for sure.”
Having spent five years at Texas Christian University, Fearnley was asked where his Scottish accent had gone as he joked: “It’s nowhere to be seen. It’s coming back the longer I’m outside the States.”