Jacob Fearnley will today be reflecting on another narrow defeat against one of the tennis world’s elite.
Bidding for a place in the last 32 of the Montreal Masters the 25-year-old from Edinburgh went down 3-6, 6-3, 3-6 to world No 16 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic.
One consolation for Fearnley is a slight rise in his own ranking – 110 to 107 – and one social media source has claimed that a possible ankle injury may have played a part when leading 2-0 in the final set.
Hopefully any problem will have cleared leading into qualifying for the Cincinnati Masters which leads into the US Open at the end of this month.
One report of a match played in the middle of the night (UK time) states: “Mensik established control early behind a reliable serve and heavy baseline strokes, claiming the first set by capitalising on key breakpoint opportunities.
“Fearnley elevated his return game in the second set, converting crucial break points and frustrating Mensik.
“In the third set Mensik regained his rhythm behind his first serve (winning 77% of overall service points). A late break gave the Czech power hitter power hitter the cushion he needed to serve out the victory.”
