Returning to the Lexus Nottingham Open challenger tennis, where he triumphed in 2024, Edinburgh’s Jacob Fearnley showed how much his mental resilience had grown with a come-from-behind victory over Australia’s Dane Sweeny.
The win sets up an encounter with second seed Benjamin Bonzi of France, the world No 89 who has been as high as 42 and who took a set of Jannick Sinner in Madrid this year.
After missing out in a marathon first set tie-break (16-18) instead of crumbling Jacob used the experience to grab the next two sets 6-1, 6-2.
During the epic tie-break Jacob missed out on five set points while Sweeny had nine of his own before edging through.
It was sweet revenge for a loss to Australian Sweeny in qualifying for the Brisbane International in January.
Jacob said: “I would’ve loved to grab the first set but tennis is like that, you win some you lose some.
“I just knew I was close and I was playing good tennis so I just had to keep going.”
It was an ideal way to celebrate receiving a wild card straight into the Wimbledon main draw, of which he said: “Getting a Wimbledon wild card is something you’re extremely grateful for.
“I never feel that I 100 per cent deserve a Wimbledon wild card because I know what goes into the decision process.
“For the LTA and Wimbledon boards to think I am worthy of a wild card is really special and it makes me really happy.”
The win over Sweeny helped ease any disappointment from losing the final of the Ilkley Challenger on Sunday when he went down in two tight sets to Yunchaokete Bu of China.
