Jacob Fearnley out of Australian Open as Alexander Zverev shows 'massive respect' to Scot

Jacob Fearnley's sparkling Australian Open debut came to an end after a straight-sets loss to second seed Alexander Zverev in the third round.

The 23-year-old Scot, who first burst onto the scene after winning a set against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year, lost 6-3 6-4 6-4 in Melbourne. But Fearnle bows out of his first overseas Grand Slam tournament with his head held high, after overcoming Nick Kyrgios and the Australian crowd at the first hurdle before following that up another eye-catching win over France's Arthur Cazaux.

However, the Edinburgh-born star met his match in German Zverev as the world No 2 got the job done in two hours and two minutes. Still, it's been a meteoric rise for Fearnley, who only left college in the United States last spring. Ranked 646 at the beginning of 2024, Fearnley is expected to soar to at least No 77 after this event.

And Zverev paid tribute to the rising star afterwards, saying: "I think he's an incredible player, he went through all the stages - going to university, playing Futures, Challengers. I've massive respect for him, and the effort that he's put into the sport, and he's going to get better I think over the next few years."

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