Jacob Fearnley has spoken about his upcoming opponent (Image: Getty)
Jacob Fearnley has claimed he is a “huge fan” of before bidding to knock the home favourite out of the .
The British No.3 will face the former finalist and a raucous atmosphere in Kyrgios’ favourite John Cain Arena on Monday night here. The Scot said he will try to block out the inevitable noise and distractions as the Aussie plays his first home Grand Slam for three years.
Kyrgios divides tennis opinion and he has been a constant critic of world No.1 over his two failed drug tests. But world No.86 Fearnley insisted: “I’m a huge fan. I’ve always said to my friends that I’m a big fan. I think there’s some people out there that don’t agree with the stuff he does. But I think it’s great for the sport. He increases viewership. He puts people in seats. I think that’s great for the sport.
“You can’t really take anything away from him on that front. Obviously what he does on the tennis court is pretty incredible, as well. Aside from what he is like outside the court, on the court he does some incredible things. I think that’s great for the sport.”
Liam Broady called losing to Kyrgios in the same John Cane Arena in 2022 an “awful experience” as he was sledged and booed by home fans.
And asked about his first reaction to drawing the Aussie in his first overseas Grand Slam match, former US college star Fearnley admitted: “It was a bit of anxiety, for sure. I know that the crowd’s going to be against me. But no, really excited, but also a bit of nervousness, for sure. Hopefully some of my experiences at college will help me on Monday.
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Nick Kyrgios often divides opinion (Image: Getty)
“I learned to try to ignore them as best as you can. Obviously I’ve been to some pretty hostile environments. Probably not as many people as going to be watching on Monday. Definitely had some nasty things thrown in my direction. You just kind of have to ignore it and move on.
“I won’t be shushing the crowd or giving any of it back – I’m not really that kind of guy. I definitely won’t be doing that on Monday. I think we’ll see on Monday how I handle it. Obviously, like I said, it’s probably going to be escalated than what I’m used to.
“I think the best thing I can do is just try to enjoy is at best as I can. Obviously focusing on myself is one kind of thing. I understand that’s going to be very difficult to do.
Jacob Fearnley is hoping to cause an upset in Melbourne (Image: Getty)
“I’m just going to try to enjoy it as best I can and embrace it. Still pretty early in my career. To have an opportunity and an experience like this is really cool.”
Fearnley, who started last year ranked world No.646, only graduated from TCU University in Texas last summer and took a set off on Centre Court in the second round of . “Obviously it’s a huge kind of thing for me to have experienced,” he said. “I think playing in front of a big stadium, a big court like that, obviously I thought that the crowd was mostly on my side at , because obviously I was British playing my home slam.
“I think the difference is there’s not going to be that much support coming for me. I can take a lot from it. The way I was able to handle it, I did a good job. Hopefully I can just trying to improve my maturity in those moments. Obviously every match is new. We don’t know what’s going to happen. Hopefully I can use that experience in my favour.”