THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 30, 2025

Jacob Fearnley

Press Conference

J. FONSECA/J. Fearnley

6-4, 6-1, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Jacob, tough draw for you. Give us your thoughts on that match.

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, not the best. Obviously tough, tough draw. Yeah, Joao just played better than me. I didn't really play my best at all. Yeah, against a player like Joao, it's tough to win when you play like I did.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You played him twice already. How did you find him this one compared to the other times?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, no, very similar, to be honest. I kind of knew what to expect coming in. It was really just about executing the game plan that I had. Yeah, today I didn't do that, like that the other two times.

I came close in Indian Wells. This time and earlier in the year, I mean, I had chances to win the third set. I mean, I don't really think I was in the match.

Q. Obviously a player on the ascent. What do you need to do to be on the same sort of trajectory as him pushing up into the top 50?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Say that again.

Q. A player on the rise, a lot of hype about him. How much inspiration can you have to follow the same trajectory as him?

JACOB FEARNLEY: As in?

Q. With your game, to put up into the top 50. What do you learn from a game like that?

JACOB FEARNLEY: Is he top 50?

Q. Not quite yet. Should be by the end of...

JACOB FEARNLEY: Yeah, I'm not too sure. Yeah, I mean, I can learn from his -- I mean, he served very well today. Good forehand.

I think the way he plays, he backs himself. That's something I probably need to do a little bit better is just be confident in the way I want to play. It's pretty clear that Joao, yeah, is very good at that.

Q. When you played at Queen's and your serve wasn't quite right, you said you had some pain. Did you have the same thing today?

JACOB FEARNLEY: No, I didn't. Just had a bad serving day I think. Yeah, I just got off to a bad start on my serve in the match. I was pretty nervous. Yeah, it just carried on.

But yeah, to be honest, I mean, I think I served nine or ten double-faults. To be honest, for me that's actually pretty average. If you look back at all my other matches, I hit a lot of double-faults.

I don't really think that cost me the match. Maybe could have managed myself a little bit better, played a little bit more aggressive, and used my serve a little bit smarter. Maybe gone into his backhand a little bit more. Was serving to his forehand, which I think just in the heat of the moment was a bit stupid.

Yeah, definitely something to improve on.

Q. You mentioned you were nervous. Was that the occasion, being on such a big court?

JACOB FEARNLEY: I think so. Yeah, I mean, all that stuff is pretty nerve-wracking for me. I didn't really know what to expect going on.

Yeah, I mean, I had a good time, maybe didn't need to put so much pressure on myself before the match. Definitely think that could have played against me a little bit, the pressure I put on myself, the nerves that I had. Going forward, I think I could definitely deal with them a little bit better, maybe get off to a little bit better start, more confident start, I would say.