Jacob Fearnley has made the transition back from grass to hard tennis courts in winning style.
The 25-year-old who grew up in Edinburgh made it six wins in a row on the pro circuit by defeating Switzerland’s Remy Bertola 6-4, 6-4 in the Cranbrook Challenger in Detroit, Michigan.
There was less good news of the two East of Scotland county week teams, however, with both the men and women going down heavily to Surrey and Berkshire respectively.
For the men that was against Surrey, Group One winners for the past two years. Only East winners in the first two rounds were James Mackinlay and Scott Duncan.
East started with 16-year-old Chenming Dong partnering captain Lance Nisbet in their line-up; Alan Macdonald and Sam MacNeill sat out.
The East women lost by a similar margin in Group Three where Sarah Macfadyen and Mhairi Beattie landed the only win in the first couple of rounds.
So far as Jacob Fearnley was concerned it was a familiar tale as he gave his opponent a three game start before battling back to land the opening set. Not quite as dramatic as saving six match points in the final of the Rhode Island tournament last time out but significant nonetheless.
A key factor in the success was Jacob’s ability to clinch 4/5 break points.
Coming from behind in the second Jacob had the chance to move 5-3 ahead but lost his serve only to break straight back and serve out for a straight sets win.
