Jacob Fearnley will go into this week’s Nottingham Challenger tennis tournament drawing on an extended run to the final of the Ilkley event where he lost to Chinese prospect Yunchaokete Bu 3-6. 6-7 on Sunday.
It was the first time Edinburgh’s Fearnley, a product of the Merchiston Castle tennis academy, had gone down to Bu in four meetings.
Nevertheless, there was no shame in this defeat to an opponent on a sensational run having won the Birmingham the previous week- his first pro grass court title – and if Jacob was to an extent drained by a hectic end to the tournament it would be no surprise having played twice on Saturday due to rain interruptions and a total of 76 games over five matches.
Key to the outcome was Jacob’s inability to clinch any of his six break points but in contrast with recent times stretching back to his last top line tournament win in March he served up a mere two double faults.
In terms of winners Jacob hit 26 and shed 24 unforced errors against a rival credited with pushing world No 1 Jannick Sinner all the way in the semi-final of the recent China Open.
At Nottingham, a tournament he won in 2024, ex Colinton junior Fearnley faces 25-year-old Australian Dane Sweeny in the first round.
Sweeny will be a dangerous opponent with his form this year highlighted by a win over Gael Monfils in January’s Australian Open.
For his efforts Jacob earned a purse of 17,850 euros for his endeavours while 64 ranking points will also prove useful going forward.
