Time is ticking, and the pressure is mounting for rising tennis star Jacob Fearnley. The 22-year-old is about to face the biggest challenge of his career: a second-round showdown with the master himself, Novak Djokovic, at Wimbledon. As the anticipation builds, everyone is wondering—can Fearnley and his dedicated coaching team pull off the unimaginable?

The British tennis star’s biggest motivation is his vast coaching team which consists not only of experienced players but also his close confidants. The first on the list is Juan Martin, who was also Fearnley’s teammate for two years at Texas Christian University. His biggest role in the team is to filter out the fluff from the discussions and inform the British star of what the team is thinking. According to Martin, the entire team is putting their effort into getting the Brit past his Serbian opponent.

Other crucial members of Fearnley’s coaching team are Tennis Scotland coach Toby Smith, and LTA coach Mark Hilton. Hilton, a former tennis player himself, made the semi-finals of the boys’ doubles event at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. Besides, he won the national championships at U16 and U18 level and his highest world ranking was 62 ITF. These experiences will definitely help him boost his mentee’s confidence. Besides, Smith’s expertise which ranges over a decade as a coach, is expected to add more value to Fearnley’s game. Martin too, shared similar sentiments. 

In an interview that featured on ATPtour.com, Juan Martin revealed the close bonding that exists within the team. “Toby and Mark are very involved still, but even Jake agrees that it’s just better for him to have only one voice. All the coaches speak together and I act almost as a filter,” Martin said. “So far, we’ve all agreed on everything. I just communicate to Jake whatever the team is thinking.” Besides, David Roditi and Devin Bowen add to the list of experienced entities in the 22-year-old’s team. 

Born on November 30, 1973, Roditi is a former player who represented Mexico. Besides being an integral member of the British star’s team, he has been serving as the head men’s tennis coach at Texas Christian University since 2010. Adding to the strong team is former American tennis player Devin Bowen. Devin is a doubles specialist, who reached a career-high doubles ranking of 39, in 2003. This is not just an exciting match for Fearnley, but his entire team as well.

The Brit had never won a tour-level title until last month when he clinched the Nottingham ATP Challenger title. For a young player like him, it is indeed a great opportunity to face a man who has won 24 grand slams in his career. A similar sentiment was resonated by Martin as well who said, “It’s very exciting. I think pretty much every tennis player, you talk about how you would play Novak….But to be honest, we just have our plan ready and we’re going to try our best.” Meanwhile, the British star expects the match to be ‘intimidating.’

‘It’s the biggest match..’ Jacob Fearnley is all praises for his opponent ahead of the clash

Facing the ‘big three’ is a dream for many budding tennis stars and Jacob Fearnley is all set to accomplish a part of it. Having won his first match at Wimbledon against Alejandro Moro Canas in straight sets, the British player is all set to face Novak Djokovic in the second round. However, he expects the match to be challenging.

Speaking to Metro, Fearnley expressed high regard for the Serbian legend. “Yeah, it’s going to be a little bit intimidating, but it’s a match that I’m super excited for. It’s the biggest match of my career so far. Just to be able to share the court with a player like that will be really special.” Meanwhile, Djokovic also admitted that he will have to do his homework ahead of the match.

Chatting about his rival, the World No.2 said, “No, I haven’t seen him hit. I don’t know really anything about him. So I’ll have to do my homework. I know he was granted a wildcard to play in the tournament. So yeah, I’ll definitely analyse his match and see what I’m up against.”

As the match unfolds, it will be interesting to see if the vast coaching team of Jacob Fearnley actually help him get past Djokovic, or if the Serb continues his winning streak.