I’m a Scots tennis ace who hit with Federer, now I have first shot at Wimbledon

JACOB FEARNLEY might not be a household name heading into this summer’s Wimbledon Championships.

But the biggest names in tennis certainly know all about the Scot who’s set to make his singles debut at SW19.

22-year old Fearnley is making his debut as a wild card at Wimbledon this week.

It’ll be his first-ever major event in singles competition.

Even some of tennis’ biggest fans might not be aware of Fearnley yet – but some of the sport’s biggest stars certainly are.

Fearnly faced-off against defending Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz and top seed, and world number one, Jannik Sinner during his junior days.

Not only did he play Alcaraz and Sinner – he beat them.

Fearnley, who was born in Edinburgh in 2001, has taken a very different career path to those two huge superstars.

He’s been playing college tennis at Texas Christian University (TCU) for the past five years, achieving plenty of success.

But his college career is now over and Fearnley is now making waves on the professional circuit.

He entered qualifying for the Nottingham Open recently and reached the main draw – the first time he’d made it to that stage of an ATP Challenger Tour event.

Fearnley then went on to WIN the event.

That superb success then saw him awarded a wild card entry into the Wimbledon singles draw.

As a teen, Fearnley hit with the iconic Roger Federer on four occasions at SW19.

The Swiss great would regularly practice with some of the top ranked British juniors.

The humble Scot admits he’s grateful for the chance – even if it doesn’t seem quite real that it’s happening.

Fearnley told ATPTour.com: “It feels a bit surreal, but it’s a great feeling.

“I was a bit surprised that I was able to win, but I’ve been working hard and played well. So yeah, just super, super happy and super grateful to be given the opportunity to play.”

While it’s Fearnley’s first singles grand slam event, he did actually appear at Wimbledon last year.

In similar fashion to his singles success this year, Fearnley was victorious in the doubles event in Nottingham in 2023.

That earned him and partner Johannus Monday a wild card slot into the doubles draw at Wimbledon.

After a first round victory, they were eliminated in the secound round by sixth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden.

This time around, it’s all about Fearnley.

At junior level, he was a standout player and reached the top 30 in the world.

As a 15-year old, he faced-off against the now global superstars that are Alcaraz and Sinner.

He beat them both, with his win over two-time Wimbledon champion Alcaraz in a final.

While those two have reached the top in the professional game, Fearnley went down the college tennis route in Texas.

He said: “Obviously those guys, their careers went in a totally different way than mine.

“I went to college and those guys are the best in the world. It’s still a pretty cool thing to tell people.”

He added: “I think college helped me a lot. TCU was the best decision I ever made. I learned so much from being there. I got the opportunity to be coached by, I think, two of the best coaches in the world.

“Aside from the fact of physically developing more, I think I’m definitely mentally stronger and deal with things a little bit better than maybe I did in the past. And I think that the other big thing is that I just believe in myself a little bit more. And that belief has come through just a lot of hard work and a lot of people supporting me. I’d say that’s the big thing that’s changed, just the belief in myself.”

Fearnley will be in action at Wimbledon on Tuesday.

He’s facing Spanish qualifier Alejandro Moro Canas in the first round at SW19.

And what a prize awaits him should he emerge victorious.

If Fearnley can beat Moro Canas, he will likely face none other than Novak Djokovic in the second round.

Seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic, 37, takes on Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva in his first round test, a match he will be widely expected to win.

Andy Murray, meanwhile, is also due on court on Tuesday.

The legendary two-time champion’s dreams of an emotional Wimbledon farewell looked to have been crushed after he underwent back surgery last week.

But his recovery has gone well, he made it into the draw and could now make it out onto the court to face Tomas Machac on Tuesday morning.

Both Murray and Fearnley’s first round matches are slated for an 11am start on Tuesday morning.

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