Jacob Fearnley came through a gargantuan contest against Tallon Griekspoor to advance at the Stockholm Open on Monday.
Fearnley, unseeded at the event, was forced into a three-set battle by Griekspoor, who recently defeated Jannik Sinner at the Shanghai Masters.
Eventually, the Brit found a way to advance against the fifth seed, winning the contest 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.
The Brit, who replaced injured Tommy Paul in Stockholm, played some superb tennis throughout the contest, pressurising the fifth seed on an almost metronomic basis using his high-velocity groundstrokes.
After the match, commentator Sue Thearle praised Fearnley’s resilience, noting a particular strength during the contest.
Sue Thearle says Jacob Fearnley’s mental strength was his ‘standout quality’ against Griekspoor
British journalist Sue Thearle was commentating for Sky Sports alongside Barry Mills during Fearnley’s clash against Griekspoor on Monday.
After the match, Thearle showered Fearnley with praise, saying: “He played a very high level, very high.
“I think mentally, that was the standout quality today. It had to be.
“But he comes through in three gruelling sets. Might have been back in the locker room about an hour and 20 minutes ago. But he will take it.”
Fearnley, the British number three behind Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie, will play either Elias Ymer or Mikael Ymer in the next round. He has never played a match against either player previously.
If Fearnley defeats Elias or Mikael Ymer, he will face one of Denis Shapovalov, Sebastian Ofner or home favourite Leo Borg in the quarter-finals.
Fearnley’s most recent ATP Tour appearance before Stockholm came at the US Open against world number three Alexander Zverev.
The 24-year-old lost to the German in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
After the US Open, Fearnley competed at a Challenger event in Roanne, France, where he lost in the round of 16 to Swiss player Dominic Stricker.
Fearnley reacts to his victory
In his on-court interview with Sky Sports, Fearnley said: “That was very tough. I thought things were going fairly comfortably up until 5-3 serving for it.
I got a little bit tight and to be fair to Tallon he competed very hard and upped his level when he needed to and yeah it was just a war until the end . Huge respect to Tallon but happy to be through.”
Fearnley was then asked how he felt in the tiebreak after conceding two match points on his own serve.
Fearnley led 6-2 in the tiebreak before being pegged back to 6-5. He then won the contest after Griekspoor hit a lob long.
Fearnley said: “I was kind of nervous, but honestly, at this point it was more fatigue – your body is sore, so the mind is a secondary in that sense, and I knew there was nothing I could do, so just focus on the next point.”
