Fearnley wins Rothesay Open, Scottish Cup recap, Junior County Cup round-up

Fearnley started his campaign in the qualifying draw by facing Lexus Glasgow Challenger Glasgow champion Clement Chidekh of France, coming from a set down to win 2-6 6-3 7-6(4).  

He then booked his place in the main draw by beating the qualifying draw’s third seed Mark Lajal 6-2 6-4 in convincing fashion.  

Fearnley carried his form over to the main draw as he bested Bu Yunchaokete 6-2 7-5 for his first career win at that level. 

Next up was an in-form Paul Jubb, who had beaten top seed and world number 61 Alex Michelsen the previous week in Surbiton. 

Fearnley struck first, taking the opening set 6-1, but Jubb found form in the second to take the set to a tie-break. Match points came and went for Fearnley, but it was Jubb who was able to hang tough, winning 16-14 to force a third. 

Unfazed by the second-set drama, Fearnley was able to bounce back and take the deciding set 6-3 to move through to the quarter-finals. 

There he faced third seed and world number 96 Juncheng Shang. Despite trailing a break in the first set, Jacob recovered to pull off a straight-sets victory 7-5 7-5 for his first top 100 win.

Carrying on his fine form, Fearnley dispatched world number 160 Mattia Bellucci 6-3 6-1 in the semi-final to set up a meeting with fellow qualifier Charles Broom. 

Broom was on an equally impressive run, having come through qualifying and beaten Dan Evans en route to the final. 

Broom took the opening set 6-4 but Fearnley stuck around, fending off break points in the second set and levelling the match at one set a piece. From there Jacob took advantage of his opportunities early on in the third to go a break up. 

Fearnley held his nerve and secured the title 4-6 6-4 6-3 for his maiden ATP Challenger title - etching his name into the Rothesay Open trophy a year on from Andy Murray picking up the title in Nottingham.  

Scottish Cup 2024 

The 2024 Scottish Inter-Club Challenge Cup finals were held at Whitecraigs LTC on Saturday, producing encounters which were nothing short of thrilling. 

Newlands Women retained their title for the fifth year in a row and were crowned winners on the 100th anniversary of the women’s event by beating Braid LTC 5-2. 

In the men’s competition, Thorn Park LTC were able to overthrow holders Newlands in a dramatic final. Thorn Park overcame an early deficit to clinch the 2024 title in a third-set match tie-break in the final rubber to best the defending champions 5-4. 

Read more about the 2024 Scottish Cup finals here.

Junior County Cup recap

Junior County Cup teams were in action over the weekend with Scots representing in the 11U categories. 

The East of Scotland girls’ team made up of Cali Nelson, Alexa Paton, Matilda Telak-Dalecka and Elise Thomas finished top of their group with wins over South of Scotland, Northumberland and Durham & Cleveland. Though the team didn’t get the win over Cumbria, it was enough to top Division 2A on rubbers. 

South of Scotland girls’ team were also competing in Division 2A. The team of Ella Espie, Stella Leyshon, Fallon McGimpsey and Holly O’Connor secured wins over Cumbria and Northumberland. 

North of Scotland boys were victorious in Division 2. The team consisted of Jamie Blair, Murray Draine, Callum Steven and Daniel Watson. The boys got the better of Northumberland on day one and put together another two convincing wins over North Wales and Durham & Cleveland, dropping only two rubbers all weekend to finish top of the group.

South of Scotland boys finished second in Division 2A, Group A with the team of Alfie Finnigan, William Forbes, Archie McCilloch and Ayaan Mirza beating Cumbria but losing out to Durham & Cleveland. 

East of Scotland boys consisting of Frank Atkins, Thomas Easton, Remi Gonzalez Rochefort and Fraser Newcombe finished the weekend with a win over Lancashire but lost out to Cheshire and Warwickshire.