Juri Rodionov, an Austrian left hander ranked world No 134, stands between Jacob Fearnley and a place in the US Open tennis first round. The Scot defeated Frenchman Luka Pavlovic 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the penultimate qualifying round.
An arm wrestle of a match lasting two hours plus saw Fearnley require to show plenty of resilience after leading 4-1 in the second set and enjoying a match point which was saved with a Pavlovic backhand that just caught the corner of the line.
Although he lost the subsequent tie-break any frustration was kept in check and Fearnley deserved credit for that as his much lower ranked rival proved difficult to shake off.
It was far from a fluent performance though against a 6ft 5in opponent o was nothing if not unpredictable and while recent matches have seen Fearnley exploit some accurate volleying after attacking the net opportunities were largely denied partly due to Pavlovic’s powerful service that required to be handled from well behind the baseline.
The win earned Fearnley $66,000 for reaching the final qualifying round and victory over Rodionov would guarantee a minimum of $140,000.
