Be honest. A year ago, had you heard of current British No 2 Jacob Fearnley? The 23-year-old from Edinburgh, a product of Texas Christian University’s impressive tennis programme, travelled back to Britain for the grass court season last June ranked a lowly 525 in the world. Even he would not have forecast the 12 months ahead.
In fact, his big break – a seven-match surge to victory at the challenger-level Nottingham Trophy – almost didn’t even get going. He only made the qualifying draw as an alternate and won his first match narrowly in a final-set tie-break. But Fearnley has not rested on his laurels, capitalising on his big break at some speed.
