After seeing his warp speed slow to the point of going backwards, Jacob Fearnley faces a crisis of confidence.
The British number three is in danger of sliding to the bottom of the world’s top 100 after losing in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.
Falling outside the top 100 would take away direct entry into the Grand Slam tournaments, meaning Fearnley is under added pressure to end a disappointing run of results.
In June, the 24-year-old Scot climbed into the top 50 – after ranking 525th a year earlier – but has won just seven matches at tour level since July.
Fearnley showed signs of quality against Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak in Melbourne, but not enough as he was defeated 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-3).
In retrospect, it was telling how often he expressed confidence in his post-match interviews when asked what he needed to do to turn his fortunes around.
“I have to be a little more confident, back myself a little more,” said the British Davis Cup player, who played American college tennis less than two years ago.
“Over the last six or seven months I have been playing quite below par of what I can play. I need a good run somewhere to give me a bit more confidence.
“Tennis is a sport where you lose one week and the next week can be great. I count on that.”
Fearnley says he is losing no sleep over his ranking and plans to continue to compete on the field as much as possible to turn around his fortunes.
If the ankle injury sustained against Majchrzak heals as he expects, Fearnley will head to Bahrain next week for a tournament on the second-tier ATP Challenger Tour.
“If I have to drop down and enter a few more challengers, I’m happy to do that,” he said.
“I will continue to commit myself and continue to believe that I can win matches.”
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