ROLAND GARROS

May 29, 2025

Jacob Fearnley

Press Conference

J. FEARNLEY/U. Umbert

6-3, 4-4 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Jacob, you're in the third round. I'm sure it has been an awkward situation today. Can you talk about it?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, no, definitely it's a weird one. Obviously happy to be in the third round. But yeah, definitely not the way I would have wanted to do it.

Yeah, to be honest, I was really enjoying playing the tennis out there. Yeah, like I said, not the way I wanted to win. Hope Ugo is okay and hope he recovers quick.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Ever happened to you before in a match? Did you see how bad the twist of his ankle looked? Did it make you wince a bit?

JACOB FEARNLEY: I can't actually remember the last time it happened. I'm sure it has happened before. Definitely not since I've been playing professional.

I actually didn't see it. That's why I felt a little bit bad because I kind of looked at my team straightaway after I hit that. I think I hit a backhand down the line. I still hadn't seen what it was that happened.

I saw him on the floor. I went over to check he was okay. No, I didn't see. Obviously he had to retire from the French Open. I'm sure he wouldn't do that unless it was really bad, so...

Q. How are you feeling about your level, the part of the match you did play? In general, how are you feeling about the conditions compared to other clay courts during the season and how it suits your game?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, I mean, I thought it was good level, to be honest. We were playing 1 hour 40 minutes. We didn't even finish two sets. I thought, yeah, the level was pretty high.

Yeah, especially on his serve, a lot of deuce games. Had a lot of chances in the second set to break. But I thought he upped his level and played some good tennis. Yeah, just a shame we couldn't continue to keep going the way we were.

In terms of the clay, I mean, I could see how it could get pretty fast. Quite a thin layer of clay as opposed to Rome, which was very thick clay. Obviously in Madrid, it's fast because of the altitude, as well.

Again, I don't have a whole lot to go on in terms of clay. I think it's my fifth tournament in I don't know how many years. Yeah, but I like it so far (smiling).

Q. You said you enjoyed it out there. How did you find the French crowd? Did you learn any new words?

JACOB FEARNLEY: No, I didn't. Yeah, I mean, I did enjoy it, to be honest. I always kind of feel like once I'm done with a match, I mean, obviously wasn't a full match, but I always feel a bit drained after being in those environments, because I constantly feel that I'm kind of fighting with myself not to let it get to me.

There's times when I notice in myself, I have to stop myself from kind of, I don't know, like getting annoyed at the crowd. The first thing when I was walking from the thing was, like, the guy was, This is Paris or something like that. I was like, All right, here we go (smiling).

But yeah, no, it was okay today. Nothing more than Stan, I would say, to be honest. But, when Ugo broke me, when he started playing some good tennis in the middle of the second set, it definitely got pretty loud and pretty rowdy in there.

Q. Your next match, Cam, what do you make of that?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, it's an interesting one. I know Cam very well. We both went to TCU in America. We didn't cross paths there. I know Cam very well. Respect his game extremely well. Someone that I looked up to as a British tennis player and as a Horned Frog.

Yeah, it will be interesting. I'm excited. Yeah, feels a little bit different than the last couple matches just purely because I'm playing another Brit, which yeah, I don't think has happened. It's really only Jack and Noz. I haven't really played another Brit at this level.

I'm excited. It's good for the British fans to have a guaranteed Brit in the fourth round. It's pretty cool.

Q. I think you're projected top 50 after this. You seem to have adjusted to the tour really well, really quickly. Especially on clay, as well. Are you surprised yourself with how quickly you've been able to adapt to everything at this level?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I didn't really know what to expect coming into the year. Obviously I had quite a bit of success on the challenger tour last year, end of last year. Yeah, I knew that I was maybe going to have to prepare to lose a little bit more. Last year, I mean, already in this kind of short period, I've lost more than I did in the whole year last year.

I was kind of prepared for that because I knew that I would get a lot of new experiences playing top players. Even the losses could be used as wins, because I'm getting to experience the highest level of tennis so early in my career.

Yeah, I think I've just been taking it day by day, learning from all the losses and the experiences I have to play in big courts against big players.

Yeah, I think the more I'm exposed to it, the more I'm getting used to it. I remember Australia, before I played Kyrgios, I was extremely, extremely nervous. And then now going on to play Ugo at the French Open, it's a big match, second round. I was still nervous, but I didn't let them kind of overwhelm me in the same way.

So it's good. It's good to see.

Q. Considering you know your next opponent pretty well, does that change anything for you in the way you prepare? Does it make things tougher to prepare for it because you know the threats they pose, bring a bit of surprise to the match, or does it make things a little bit easier?

JACOB FEARNLEY: I don't think so. I mean, I think we all kind of prepare the match in the same way. Yeah, obviously I've practiced with him more than I think any of the other opponents I faced. Again, it's the same for him. He obviously knows me well.

I would say because he's British, because he also went to TCU, I've probably been following his career more than other players. Obviously I've seen him a lot more since I was in college, even before college. And it's probably the same for him. He probably watched some of my college matches, which a lot of the other guys on the tour definitely haven't.

So yeah, I think it's the same for both. I'm pretty sure we'll prepare the same way obviously whether we know each other or not. It's the third round of the French Open, so we have to prepare the same way.

Q. You haven't played a five-set match yet. What has it been like going up to play in best-of-five after spending your whole life playing best-of-three?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, good question. I think it's interesting 'cause you kind of know you have time to kind of adjust. I think when you're playing best-of-three, like, it's very important to get off to a good start. Not that it's not important in the best-of-five set.

You see how many matches go two sets to love up, and then they're playing not great, then they come back and win in five. I'm pretty sure like Bublik played de Minaur today, and he was losing easy. He came back to win. That's something you can only do in best-of-five tennis.

It gives you a bit of time to find your game, to find your level. I think that's something that's a bit different going in.

Obviously physically I guess it's more demanding. Like you said, I haven't played a best-of-five set yet. I can't really comment on that.

Q. You said Cam was an example for you. What did you take from seeing him transition to the tour?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Well, I think the big thing was that it was possible. I think to see a guy going to obviously the college that I went to, seeing how well he did coming out of college, it was more just inspiring, kind of showed me that it was possible, that the coaches at TCU and the work that he put in at TCU could kind of get him to the tour.

When he won Indian Wells, I mean, yeah, it's just very inspiring really. I think he's done amazing things on the tour. He competes so hard, fights every match, fights every point. You can see that he really leaves it all out there. So that's something that I admire.

Yeah, if I can be like that in any way, that would be cool.