Jacob Fearnley earned the biggest win of his career on Saturday, taking out No. 19 seed Tomas Machac at the Madrid Open. But he had to do it the hard way, coming from a set down and rolling his ankle in the process.
Before this month, the British No. 2 had never won a professional match on the clay. After coming through qualifying, he now finds himself through to the third round of the Madrid Open, his first-ever clay-court Masters 1000 tournament. But Fearnley admitted he was “in pain” after turning his ankle and needed painkillers to keep playing.
Fearnley is still a relatively unknown name on the ATP Tour. A former college tennis player, the Brit turned pro last year and has enjoyed a rapid rise up the rankings, currently sitting at a career-high of No. 68.
The 23-year-old is still getting used to playing on clay, making his debut on the surface in Barcelona Open qualifying two weeks ago. And he appears to be a fast learner, as he’s now scored the first top-20 win of his career against Machac.
The skilled Czech played raced through the first set but Fearnley suddenly found a second wind after rolling his ankle and taking some tablets for the pain, winning 1-6 6-3 6-2.
After the match, the British No. 2 claimed the injury actually helped him to play better. “It’s an interesting one,” he told Sky Sports.
“I think I was playing – taking nothing away from Tomas – I was playing some of the worst tennis I played in a while.”
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