Emerging star Jacob Fearnley’s dream run to the third round of the Australian Open has seen him move on the verge of replacing Cam Norrie as the new British No 2.
Fearnley is competing in the main singles draw of a Grand Slam for just the second time in his short career having made his professional debut in 2023.
Last year, the Scottish tennis ace won four ATP Challenger Tour titles to jump up the rankings and reached the second round of Wimbledon.
His performances throughout the year saw him climb an incredible 547 places in the rankings to become the new British No 3.
Cameron Norrie has dropped further down the rankings
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By moving inside the world’s top 100, Fearnley avoided having to go through the qualifiers to enter the main draw of the Australian Open.
And he’s recorded impressive victories over Nick Kyrgios and Arthur Cazaux to reach the third round stage where he will face world No 2 Alexander Zverev.
Fearnley will be up against the odds when he takes on Zverev, but his run to the third round is already set to see him climb to a new career-high ranking of 77th.
It’s been a different story entirely for his compatriot Norrie, who’s fall from grace continued this week.
The former world No 8 lost in the first round to Matteo Berrettini and has now dropped down to 62nd in the rankings.
There is now just 161 points between the two British players in the rankings and an unlikely win for Fearnley over Zverev would see him move to within 61 points.
It could get even worse for Norrie next month as he’s defending a lot of points from reaching the Rio Open semi-final last year.
Fearnley’s ranking is only set to rise even more after the Australian Open when he makes his debut in the events immediately following the first Grand Slam of the season.
Jacob Fearnley is through to the third round
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He now looks on course to replace Norrie as the new British No 2 in the coming weeks unless the 29-year-old can turn things around quickly.
British No 1 Jack Draper is currently ranked 16th in the world and is also through to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in his career.
The 23-year-old faces home favourite Aleksandar Vukic for a spot in the fourth round, where he might end up facing Carlos Alcaraz.
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Jacob Fearnley has reached a new career-high ranking
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Fearnley is looking forward to the challenge of facing Zverev on Friday morning, which will be played in the Margaret Court Arena.
He said: “To come on the winning side of these matches (his first two rounds) gives me a lot of belief, but I’m also aware there’s different levels and obviously playing Zverev on Friday will be another massive test.
“I’ve never hit with him, I only walked past him for the first time just now. You don’t realise how big he is and he’s got a bit of aura surrounding him for sure.”