Alexander Zverev says what Jacob Fearnley has done which he has ‘massive respect’ for ahead of their Australian Open clash

Zverev beat Lucas Pouille in the first round, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, as he comfortably made his way through to the second round of a Grand Slam for the 32nd time in his career.

Back on Rod Laver Arena, Zverev dismantled Spanish ATP star Pedro Martinez in straight sets in the second round, dropping just six games.

With the win, Zverev booked his spot in the third round, where he will face off against rising British star Jacob Fearnley, who beat Nick Kyrgios, and Arthur Cazaux in his opening two matches.

Ahead of his match with Fearnley, the 27-year-old revealed what the Brit did that earned his respect.

Alexander Zverev has ‘massive respect’ for the route Jacob Fearnley took to the top of men’s tennis

Speaking after his Australian Open second-round win over Martinez, Zverev gave his thoughts on Fearnley.

“I know he’s a young college player who’s gone up the rankings extremely fast,” he said.

“That means he’s playing great tennis, I’m looking forward to playing him for the first time.

“I have massive respect for guys that go that route, kind of choose the hard way to go to the professional circuit.

“He did that, went through all the stages, he deserves to be in the third round of a Major, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Zverev reiterated how impressed he is by players who grind their way onto the ATP Tour like Fearnley.

“I think he’s somebody that competes extremely well, typical college actually,” he said.

“Very competitive, fighting for all the moments.

“But yeah, again, I have massive respect for those guys who are maybe not number one or two in the junior rankings, were maybe not the most talented or gifted, and they go through all the stages.

“They go through college, through the Futures Tour, the Challenger Tour.

“Now he is on the big stage, in the third round of a Grand Slam, I have massive respect for that and looking forward to playing him.”

Zverev did, however, concede that he hadn’t seen too much of the world number 92.

“I mean, I watched him play against Nick [Kyrgios] a few nights ago,” he said.

“I watched him play Novak [Djokovic] in Wimbledon, that’s about it.”

Fearnley lost to Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2024 but gave the Serb a big scare as he took the opening set on Centre Court.

Jacob Fearnley’s sensational rise on the ATP Tour

The 23-year-old is set for a blockbuster clash in the third round of a Grand Slam later this week, but it’s not too long ago that Fearnley was relatively unheard of on the ATP Tour.

Fearnley climbed over 500 places in the rankings last year, as he emerged onto the scene, seemingly from nowhere.

Having fallen out of the rankings in 2021, and 2022, the Scot bounced back to the world’s top 700 in 2023, before making huge strides last year.

Thanks to four Challenger Tour wins, in Nottingham, Lincoln, Rennes, and Orleans, Fearnley finished the year inside the top 100.

Having picked up two wins at this year’s Australian Open, Fearnley currently sits at 77th in the live rankings, a number that can still rise or fall, depending on how the rest of the tournament pans out.

He’ll hope to continue his fine form when he takes on Zverev in the third round on Friday, January 17.

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