Jacob Fearnley stuns Nick Kyrgios and rowdy Australian Open crowd before making Scottish accent quip
Jacob Fearnley joked that his Scottish accent is coming back after he moved into the second round of the Australian Open after taking down home favourite Nick Kyrgios in straight sets.
The 23-year-old from Edinburgh, playing in the Australian Open for the first time in his professional career, overcame former Wimbledon finalist Kyrgios 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 7-6 (7/2) in two hours, 20 minutes to dampen spirits on the John Cain Arena.
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Hide AdKyrgios - currently without a world ranking - was playing his first match at the Australian Open since 2022 and has been besieged by injuries over the past two years, with reports that he came into the encounter with an abdominal tear. Nevertheless, the 29-year-old went into the match against Fearnley as the slight favourite, roared on by a partisan home crowd.


World No 93 Fearnley broke into the top 100 last year after winning four Challenger titles and taking a set off Novak Djokovic in the second round of Wimbledon. There are high hopes that the former Texas Christian University pupil can become a force on the major tour and he showed off his credentials in a professional display against Kyrgios, who struggled throughout the match with his stomach issue.
Fearnley has spent the past five years honing his craft in America and asked in his on-court interview with John McEnroe where his Scottish accent is, Fearnley smiled and said: “It’s nowhere to be seen, but it’s coming back, the longer I spend outside of the States.”
Fearnley may not yet be a household name in Scotland, but his steep rise up the rankings last year and this win merely cement his credentials as an exciting prospect in the sport. He had to not only play a dangerous opponent in Kyrgios but also the rowdy crowd, with only a couple of Saltires to be seen.
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Hide AdHowever, it became apparent early on that Kyrgios was not operating a 100 per cent capacity, but the Australian was able to serve his way to a tie break in the first set, which Fearnley took 7-3.
Kyrgios became increasingly agitated, repeatedly swearing and complaining about his conditioning. Fearnley broke at the start of the second set and did not look back, taking it 6-3.
The third set was more competitive, despite Fearnley breaking for a 3-2 lead. The Scot started to tighten up, throwing in some double faults, and Kyrgios broke straight back to reignite the crowd, winning a point while hitting a tweener to put pressure on his less experienced opponent.
Kyrgios fashioned a set point when Fearnley was serving down 4-5, but the Scot saved it with a delicate forehand on a short ball. It allowed him to regroup and despite the Australian fans urging Kyrgios on, Fearnley crossed the line by winning the tie-break 7-2.
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“I was obviously extremely nervous before the match,” admitted Fearnley afterwards. “I didn’t get too much sleep. I thought I played good. I feel sorry for Nick, I could tell he was dealing with some stuff. I thought it was a great match and I really enjoyed playing against you guys.
“You never really know what you are going to get when you play Nick. He played some amazing points. The tennis we produced towards the end of the match was really good and I enjoyed it.
“I tried to focus on myself. I knew I wasn’t able to get the crowd on my side. It was difficult to keep my composure for sure, I had to fight with myself. All things considered, it’s probably the best match I’ve played. An experience like this will help me for sure going forward.
Fearnley will now take on 22-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux (World No 78) after he took down the 28th seed Sebastian Baez 6-3 5-7 3-6 6-0 6-3. The winner of that match could face second seed Alexander Zverev in the third round.
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