Jacob Fearnley’s run at the Queen’s Club Championship is over, having lost at the quarter-final stage to Jiri Lehecka.
In an impressive week of action, the Scot soared through the early rounds with battling wins over Michael Bolt and Corentin Moutet.
However, he came unstuck against the 23-year-old, who was just too solid in the blistering London sunshine.
Speaking after the match, Jacob Fearnley was happy with how his week had gone. And yet, he was left a little frustrated with one controllable error he continued to make today.
Jacob Fearnley reviews his Queen’s loss to Jiri Lehecka
Naturally, the dominant topic in his post-match interview surrounded the number of double faults which ultimately was his undoing.
One reporter quizzed: ’How frustrating is that? And was there anything physical? I saw you stretching out your shoulder maybe at times. Was there anything physical behind that?’
Fearnley replied: ’Yeah, I mean, of course it’s frustrating. I mean, it’s well in my control, though. I mean, I just had a bad serving day. Yeah, that was it, really.
‘I‘ served two-and-a-half games of double faults. When he’s serving the way he was serving, it’s tough to win. It got to my head a little bit. But no, yeah, it’s obviously extremely frustrating. At this level, you can’t give that away, that many free points.
‘It’s just, yeah, it’s frustrating, because you also feel — I mean, I got a break up, I was playing well, and then just lost it on my serve. That’s probably the most frustrating part about today, but yeah, yeah.’
Then asked about how his shoulder was faring and if it had an impact, his response was short: ‘It’s fine. It’s just tight. Yeah.’
Fearnley served ten double faults, whilst Lehecka did not make a single one.
Jacob Fearnley continues to make great progress in 2025
Although the nature of today’s defeat was disappointing, given he raced into a lead in the first set with the early break, few can deny the remarkable progress he has made this year.
Heading into the Australian Open at the start of the year, in what was his debut at the event, he was ranked 96th in the world.
However, he swept aside a returning Nick Kyrgios and Arthur Cazaux before losing to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev in the third round.
Since then he’s impressed in Barcelona, Madrid and now Queen’s, to name just a few tournaments, helping him reach a career-high ranking of 49th.
Now back down to 60th ahead of Wimbledon, he’s already shown his penchant for performing on grass. He will spearhead British hopes alongside his English counterpart, with Fearnley revealing his relationship with Jack Draper earlier this week.
In front of a home crowd at the All-England Club, Fearnley could very well enjoy a strong run to propel him even further up the rankings.
