“I’m a new player now” – Jacob Fearnley gears up for the Australian Open & the 2026 season ahead
• 3 minute read
After a standout first year on the ATP Tour, British No.3 Jacob Fearnley is ready to take his game to new levels in 2026.
The 24-year-old only graduated from Texas Christian University (TCU) in June 2023, but has had a meteoric rise at the start of his professional career.
Fearnley has lifted four ATP Challenger titles, won on his debut at all four Grand Slams, made an ATP quarter-final at the HSBC Championships, represented Great Britain at the Davis Cup and broken into the world’s top 50 – all in such a short period of time.
While it’s been a whirlwind 18 months for the young British star, Fearnley is showing no signs of slowing down, and is gearing up for another action-packed season.
“It's been great,” Fearnley said reflecting on his off-season break. “I don't usually love taking breaks, I feel a little bit bored, but it's good to step away. It makes you hungry to get going and to work hard when you do come back.
“To be back and start at the National Tennis Centre in London is really cool as well, to be around some of the guys and a lot of the staff – it’s the best way to start the new season.”
I think I’m a new player now, I’ve definitely learned a lot. I've noticed a lot of things that I can do differently in my game, and I don't think that I'm close to being where I can be, or how I can play. That's quite exciting.
Australia marked a key moment in the calendar for Fearnley’s 2025 season. The British star started his year Down Under as the first stop on a full ATP schedule.
Fearnley managed to earn himself direct main draw entry as a just reward for a strong end to 2024 and made good on his opportunity, reaching the third round.
After just a few weeks competing in Australia, Fearnley has already formed a fond relationship with the first Grand Slam of the season and is eager to experience its unique atmosphere once again.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “I have good memories there from last year, I’ve played some fun matches in Australia. It’s a great place, great coffee as well – I love coffee.
“I’ll hopefully play a few new tournaments before in Brisbane and either Auckland or Adelaide, but, overall, it'll be really exciting.
“(The Australian Open) It definitely differs from Wimbledon and Roland Garros, just purely, it feels more... I guess the word would be rowdy.
“It’s a lot bigger, the Australians, they get after it, and it creates a really unique atmosphere. It’s quite fun to play in, obviously last year, I got to experience it pretty firsthand when I played Nick (Kyrgios), and I think that, that kind of summed up what the Australian Open is.”
When the draws were announced last year, Fearnley’s Australian Open debut against former Wimbledon runner-up and home favourite Nick Kyrgios was certainly one of the standout matches.
Having never played a match at Melbourne Park, Fearnley stepped out on court and saw off the Australian in straight sets – winning 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-6(2).
“I was very nervous going into it before,” Fearnley explained. “I knew that I would be playing on a big court, the John Cain Arena, because that’s where I heard he loves to play.
“It was actually pretty plain sailing for the first couple sets. Obviously his serve was really good, so we had a few tie-breaks, but the crowd were somewhat okay. Then in the third set, Nick started kind of doing his own thing and the crowd started getting pretty tough.
“I was just happy to get through it in straight sets, because I feel like that's a match where, you know, if you lose the third set the crowd, gets in my grill, then it can go down south pretty fast.
“I learnt a lot mentally, being able to handle the situation and to, kind of get over the line even after having the crowd against me.”
In the third round he bowed out in what was the first of many meetings with current world No.3 Alexander Zverev.
Across their four matches, Fearnley says he could feel the improvements and development in his own game throughout the year.
Now heading into 2026, the Briton feels in a completely different place to just one year ago and with more experience under his belt, is ready to make more strides in the new season.
“I obviously wasn't expected to win, Zverev has been at the top of the game for a long, long time. I think he was maybe No.2 in the world at the time.
“To get to play him at the start of the year was great. I’ve obviously had a number of chances to play him, but it definitely felt like every match I played him I did get better and better.
“I think I’m a new player now, I’ve definitely learned a lot. I've noticed a lot of things that I can do differently in my game, and I don't think that I'm close to being where I can be, or how I can play. That's quite exciting.
“The best way I could describe it, is that this year was a big learning curve for me, playing my first year, different crowds, playing on different surfaces, etc. I mean, it's just the first year that I played on clay in about eight years or so hopefully it’s all positive things go into next year.”
The Australian Open main draw gets underway from Sunday 18 January.
