Australian Open 2025: Jacob Fearnley beats Nick Kyrgios in straight sets on his Melbourne debut
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Jacob Fearnley’s meteoric rise onto the ATP Tour took another big step on Tuesday as he defeated former Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in the first round of the Australian Open.
Fearnley beat the 29-year-old Australian 7-6(4), 6-3, 7-6(2) in two hours and 20 minutes to claim a victory on his main draw debut in Melbourne.
A standout win for the world No.92 will see him move on to play France’s Arthur Cazaux in the second round – who knocked out 28th seed Sebastian Baez in five sets.
“I was extremely nervous before the match – didn’t get too much sleep,” Fearnley admitted after the match. “I knew it was going to be a rowdy match. I thought I played good but sorry for Nick, I could tell he was dealing with some stuff. I thought it was a great match and I really enjoyed playing in front of you guys (the crowd).
“I tried to just focus on myself as best as I could. I just had to try my best and do the best I could to get through each point.
“It’s up there (as one of the best matches he’s played). All things considered I think it probably was my best match. I think an experience like this will help me going forward in the future for sure going forward.”
It was an impressive start from Fearnley up against a home favourite in only his first Grand Slam match outside of Wimbledon.
The British No.3 dropped only five points on serve throughout the first set and cause Kyrgios huge problems on the return. At 3-3 the Australian dug himself out of two break points with a couple of mean serves down the tee but appeared to be suffering more discomfort in his abdomen – an injury that plagued him in Brisbane two weeks ago.
The pair battled on to a first set tie-break, where the Brit’s consistency and energy in the longer rallies proved the difference. Kyrgios was trying to push the Brit with bigger groundstrokes but only landed himself in trouble with more and more unforced errors – taking his total to 12 as Fearnley saw out the set.
Fearnley had more break points come and go on Kyrgios’s opening service game of the second set but at the third time of asking, the Australian looked out of sorts as the 23-year-old Briton tucked away a forehand winner to move 2-0 in front.
Kyrgios continued to struggle with pain and called for a trainer ahead of his service game at 4-1, where once again he had to see off a couple of break points.
The British star – who won his first pro title at the Rothesay Open Nottingham last summer – looked untouchable on serve and in the lengthy points. He clinched two quick holds to love to see out the second with little sign of nerves in one of the biggest matches of his career so far.
A double fault from Kyrgios and a poor missed volley gave Fearnley another break at 1-1 and it seemed all but over for the Australian, but there was life still remaining in the seven-time ATP title winner.
Fearnley showed his first moments of tightness serving at 3-2 up in the third and missed three game points before a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes handed the Australian his first break of the match.
With the crowd now in full voice behind their home star it became tougher and tougher for Fearnley and his first serve percentage fell quite drastically. With the Brit serving at 5-4 he had to fend off a set point to stay on track and
In the tie-break Fearnley needed to get off to a quick start and he did just that. The Briton connected on brilliant forehand return at Kyrgios’s feet on the opening point before then sealing the double mini break to move 4-1 in front.
He showed nerves of steal to grind out one of the longest points of the match for 5-1 as he went on to see out a debut win to remember.
