British rookie, Jacob Fearnley, 22 years old and born in Edinburgh, is all set to play one of the biggest matches of his career on Thursday (July 4). He will face the seven-time Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic in the second round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. But who is this Fearnley character? They’re making waves on the Tour, some might even call them lucky. But as they say, fortune favors the prepared! Even Fearnley had to overcome a lot of hurdles and climb millions of such stairs to finally see the sunshine after reaching the top tier of the tennis world. Did the 22-year-old Brit really play against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner in the past?

Well, he not only played against them but also defeated them in his junior days! Recalling his golden memories from the past, Fearnley said, “I played Alcaraz when he was maybe 14, I was 17. Sinner, I played him maybe when we were 15.” The 22-year-old further went on to explain how two roads diverged in the careers, and he chose the one less traveled, but did that make any difference? “Obviously the strides they’ve taken in their games have been a lot more than myself. I went to college and those guys are the best in the world. It’s still a pretty cool thing to tell people. The way they’re playing, it’s unbelievable,” said Fearnley.

Fearnley spent almost five years at Texas Christian University (TCU), where he played college tennis. During his time over there he suffered a series of injuries that hindered his progress in college. Did he give up? No, before signing off from college he won the NCAA National Championships for TCU. Last month, he won an ATP Challenger event in Nottingham as a qualifier, but can he come up with a strong challenge against someone like Novak Djokovic?

His coach Martin believes, “[Jake] has a big game. His game is just very aggressive, which I think fits for what Novak does to you. He has a good game to play Novak I think, so that’s why I think that he needs to just focus on himself, do his thing, and compete.” What does the Serbian think though about the world number 277? Does he think even?

” I don’t really know…” – Novak Djokovic shares his thoughts on Jacob Fearnley

Jacob Fearnley had previously told his coach that if someone had told him that he would play Novak Djokovic on the Centre Court at Wimbledon in five months he would’ve said “No way“. Now the dream has turned into a reality! “It’s the biggest match of my career so far. Just to be able to share the court with a player like that will be really special,” Jacob said. However, when Djokovic was asked if he knew anything about his R2 opponent, the Serb said, “No, no, I haven’t seen him hit. I don’t really know anything about him. So I’ll have to do my homework and I know he was granted a wildcard to play in the tournament.“

The only worry Djokovic has in this match is the British fans in the stands, who will perhaps raise the decibel a bit when both these players step onto the court next. However, there is another interesting fact surrounding Fearnley and a tennis legend. Do you know Fearnley was drafted as a hitting partner for Roger Federer at the 2018 Wimbledon? If the youngster somehow comes up with a surprising result then he’d become the first player from the host nation after Andy Murray in 2013 to beat Djokovic at Wimbledon. Do you even dare to think of this outcome?