Informal tennis observers would possibly nonetheless be questioning the place Fearnley has appeared from.
Little greater than a yr in the past, the Briton was unranked within the skilled recreation and nonetheless enjoying within the “brutal” United States school tennis system the place he developed his aggressive recreation.
Ending his kinesiology diploma at Texas Christian College in April was the purpose when he determined it was time to maneuver into the skilled ranks.
Then got here the gorgeous rise performed out at warp velocity.
Profitable 5 ATP Challenger occasions final yr propelled him into the highest 100 and enabled him to qualify instantly for the Australian Open predominant draw.
Touchdown Kyrgios was the reward, however it remained to be seen how Fearnley would address what was anticipated to be a partisan environment.
Regardless of admitting he felt “anxious”, he hoped his experiences of school tennis – all noise, trash-talking and staff bonding – would stand him in good stead.
Fearnley appeared calm from the beginning and clear in his pondering.
“I knew that I could not actually present any emotion as a result of I felt that the group was simply going to eat that alive,” he mentioned.
Kyrgios was unable to commonly unleash his large serve and Fearnley was commonly in a position to get into the receiving factors.
That allowed him to take management of the first-set tie-break, race away with the second set and transfer a break up within the third.
Fearnley’s serve was additionally rock strong. He dropped simply 5 factors on serve within the opening two units earlier than Kyrgios broke for the one time to take the third into one other tie-break which Fearnley dominated.