Edinburgh’s Jacob Fearnley is into the quarter final of the Lexus Ilkley challenger tennis tournament, after what had to be one of his grittiest displays as a professional against American qualifier Keegan Smith.
The former Colinton junior experienced a lengthy medical time out for what appeared a lower leg injury when trailing by a set and 4-5 on serve.
It was odds on the disruption might take its toll but Jacob dug deep to hold and added a couple of more games to clinch the set.
In the decider nerves that appear to have plagued his recent career seemed to surface as he failed to serve out at 5-2 but the double break enabled him to atone on his subsequent service game eventually winning 4-6 7-5 6-4 in a match which started on Thursday and was suspended overnight due to rain.
Regardless of how far he progresses pulling through another tight match – he had to come from a set down in his opening tie against Italy’s Luca Nardi – must provide a confidence boost as the grass court season intensifies especially after a series of early exits
Double faults remain a concern – six today – and there were 44 unforced errors, but on the credit side Jacob hit 34 straight winners to his 6ft 7in opponent’s 16.
