Having already broken new ground at the Barcelona Open, British lucky loser Jacob Fearnley seeks to pull off a giant killing of Australian fifth seed Alex de Minaur in the second round on Thursday.
Fearnley - a lucky loser - navigated his way past Roberto Carballes Baena first up, while De Minaur earned a straight-sets success of his own against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round.
Match preview
© Imago
Despite being five months older than Jack Draper - now an established performer in the big leagues of the ATP Tour - Fearnley has arguably inherited his fellow 23-year-old's title of the next rising star of British tennis.
The 2001-born product could have already caught a plane home by now, as he went down to Colombia's Daniel Elahi Galan in his final qualifier, but he was offered a reprieve as one of three lucky losers and did not let that opportunity pass him by.
Squaring up to Spain's Carballes Baena in the first round, Fearnley blew the 32-year-old away in the opening set and edged a tight second to win 6-1 7-5 in just under two hours, thus clinching his first-ever ATP Tour main-draw victory on clay.
Employing a high-risk, high-reward strategy, Fearnley made up for 36 unforced errors with 33 winners on the dirt, in addition to saving seven of the nine break points that he conceded and taking six of the 16 that he brought up against the Spaniard.
Winner of four Challenger titles last year, the Edinburgh native has shot up to number 74 in the world and can also look ahead to a first-ever French Open appearance later this year, but a De Minaur-sized challenge will no doubt be an extremely difficult one to overcome.
© Imago
Still waiting for his maiden ATP Tour singles final on clay, Australia's favourite son De Minaur put in some title-worthy performances at the recent Monte-Carlo Masters, where Tomas Machac, Grigor Dimitrov and Daniil Medvedev all fell to his superiority.
Italy's Lorenzo Musetti subsequently broke De Minaur's heart in the final four, but that run represented the Australian's second-best result at a Masters tournament to date, only behind his runners-up prize at the 2023 Canadian Open.
Laying down an early marker in Barcelona after his memorable Monte-Carlo run, De Minaur defeated Argentina's Etcheverry 6-4 6-4 in just one hour and 25 minutes in the first round, where he put in what can be described as a clean and effective display.
De Minaur did not face a single break point, converted the only two he brought up and also won 81% of his first serves en route to a spot in round two, also improving to a 21-7 record for the 2025 season in the process.
The world number seven has just the one final to his name so far this season - defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the Rotterdam Open showpiece event - and he could potentially earn a shot at revenge against the French Open and Wimbledon champion should he send Fearnley home.
Tournament so far
Jacob Fearnley:
First round: vs. Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1 7-5
Alex de Minaur:
First round: vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-4 6-4
Head To Head
Fearnley and De Minaur will be locking horns for the first time on the ATP Tour in Thursday's second-round match, where two right-handers both standing at 6ft tall will battle for a place in the quarters.
While De Minaur has prevailed in 75% of his matches in 2025, Fearnley has only taken part in nine contests at the top level this year, triumphing five of them for a win rate of 55.5%.
We say: De Minaur to win in two sets
Do not expect Fearnley to shy away from his gung-ho style in pursuit of a statement victory on Thursday, but De Minaur will be well-equipped to deal with the Briton's risky strategy.
Experience will surely win out on this occasion as De Minaur advances to the final eight, although Fearnley can at least reflect positively on a maiden main-draw clay victory from round one.
Ben Knapton
