Jacob Fearnley insists he’s happy to continue flying under the radar after giving Novak Djokovic a second-round scare on Centre
The Edinburgh-born ace admits his Instagram followers have sky-rocketed but says nothing will change as he bids to use his big moment as a platform for progression and greater things. Fearnley, who followed in the footsteps of Cameron Norrie in opting to move to the States and study at TCU, earned a wildcard for the Wimbledon draw after grabbing Rothesay Open glory in Nottingham last month.That teed up a tantalising second round showdown with world No.2 Djokovic, who was sporting a conspicuous grey compression sleeve on his right knee after having surgery on a torn meniscus.
Fearnley even had a break point to help set up a remarkable deciding set but after Djokovic resisted and then broke himself, he eventually edged over the line. And that has helped propel Draper, 22, to the summit of the British standings and emerge as the unequivocal man to beat on grass this season. “I felt like I was a bit of the underdog coming in, so I was pretty relaxed to be honest,” said Norrie, who will meet either fourth seed Alexander Zverev or Marcos Giron in the third round.