Jacob Fearnley had a strong Australian Open debut but lost in straight sets to second seed Alexander Zverev in the third round.

The Scot continues to work his way up the professional ladder with ease and didn’t look out of place against one of the tournament favorites at Margaret Court Arena.

But he was unable to maintain sustained pressure on Zverev, who won 6-3 6-4 6-4 in 2 hours and 2 minutes.

Fearnley had slightly more winners and his forehand caused constant problems for Zverev, but also made 34 unforced errors to the German’s 15.

Still, it was a fantastic week for Fearnley, who defeated Nick Kyrgios and the Australian crowd in the first round before defeating Arthur Kazoks in the second round.

Less than eight months into his professional tennis career, Fearnley will break into the top 80 in the world at the end of the tournament and will certainly be ranked higher, with no ranking points to defend his title until June.

The 23-year-old faced Novak Djokovic on his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon last year and performed brilliantly, taking the Serb a set and nearly forcing the match into a decider.

He failed to make any progress against Zverev’s serve in the first set, and a break in the sixth game ultimately decided the outcome.

The Scot then took a medical timeout on the sidelines as the problem was not immediately apparent but intensified his aggression at the start of the second set.

He forced two break points in the second game, but failed to win either, and fate was not in his favor. At 3-3, Zverev broke through again after hitting the ball outside the net, leaving Fearnley in trouble. .

Fearnley was undeterred, however, and after taking the initiative again on a long baseline rally, he fought right back.

That got the unflappable 23-year-old excited for the first time, pumping his fists as Zverev lost serve for the first time in the entire match.

Zverev also faced a British player on the same court last year, eventually defeating Fearnley’s Texas Christian University alumnus Cameron Norrie in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

But Fearnley’s hopes of achieving a similar goal suffered a major blow when he was broken again at 15-30 before volleying into the net.

It was a miss for Zverev and the pattern was repeated early in the third set when Fearnley lost serve and broke back – prompting the German to roar to his dugout – as a result But he lost his serve again.

Fearnley held serve well after that but Zverev avoided any further alarm.

The second seed then praised his opponent, saying: “I think he’s an unbelievable player and he’s been through all the stages. I have a lot of respect for him and the hard work he puts into the sport and he will I want to get better in the next few years.”

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