HSBC Championships 2025: Jacob Fearnley through to his first ATP Tour quarter-final
• 2 MINUTE READ
Jacob Fearnley made it through a tricky three set second round match against Corentin Moutet to book himself a place in the quarter-finals on his Queen’s Club debut.
The British No.2 battled for two hours and 10 minutes in the blistering London sun to defeat French qualifier Moutet 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
He’s through to an ATP Tour quarter-final for the first time in his career where he’ll face Czech star Jiri Lehecka who eased past Canada’s Gabriel Diallo in straight sets earlier today.
Fearnley’s dream debut run at the HSBC Championships continues his breakthrough season which has seen him reach the third round of both the French and Australian Open as well as reaching a career high ranking of 49 after sitting just inside the top 500 in June 2024.
“Obviously very happy to be in my first quarter-final and even better, like you said to do it here in London, in the UK” the Brit said after the match.
“It’s really special for me, I’ve dreamed of these moments since I was a young boy so to be standing here in front of an amazing crowd on this amazing court – it’s really special.”
Speaking on coming back to win the match after losing the second set, he said: “I think I just tried to stick to my game plan, be aggressive, come to the net. I think that was the way to win and I think I did that better in the third set and the result took care of itself and really happy with the way I was able to come back after the loss of the second set and win the third.”
Fearnley came out strong and quickly took the opening three games in just his sixth tour level match on grass.
The 23-year-old had to work to close it out though, needing a break to love to restore his lead late on as he won nine of the 12 final points, including consecutive aces, to seal the set.
A shaky start to the second set gave - three double faults to go down a break in the opening game – and in a flash, the reigning Lexus Nottingham Open champion found himself 4-1 down.
Fearnley struggled to find any rhythm on serve – winning just 14 of his 29 service points in the second - but managed to save five break points before the Frenchman eventually got his double break lead to take a foothold of the match.
The Edinburgh native looked much more at home on the Andy Murray Area in the third set as he raced out to a 4-1 lead with the Frenchman growing in frustration.
The Brit was flying now, with the crowd enduring the heat of the London sun to support him in full voice. Despite the Frenchman saving two match points, the Brit kept his composure and a long ball from his opponent stamped his ticket to the quarter-finals.
Fearnley will face Lehecka tomorrow in what will be a first meeting between the two. The world No.30 knocked out former runner-up Alex de Minaur in the opening round and has already won an ATP title in Brisbane earlier this year.
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