'He's always like, 'Oh, I'm sorry about that'': Jacob Fearnley blames Alexander Zverev for unsettling him before US Open second-round defeat

Britain’s Jacob Fearnley has criticised Germany’s Alexander Zverev for an interesting reason after the US Open second-round defeat. The 24-year-old suffered a thumping defeat in the round of 64 clash of the fourth and the final Grand Slam of the year in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

While talking to the media, Fearnley criticised Zverev for making him wait before going on to the court. Fearnley stated that the same thing happened with him at the Australian Open, and the same thing was done by Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon as well.

"I kind of expected it,” said Fearnley. "It was the same in Australia, and he's always like, 'Oh, I'm sorry about that'. But he knows what he's doing. It was the same with Novak (Djokovic) at Wimbledon. They take their time. I don't know if it's within the rules or not. I don't really know what the rule is. If they call me, I show up. It is a little bit of time because you do a 20-minute warm-up and then you're standing there."

Talking about his own performance on the day, Fearnley admitted that it was not what he was expecting it to be and suggested that a lot of it was down to the fact that he was playing a ‘difficult environment’ with constant noise in the playing arena.

Difficult environment caught me off guard: Fearnley

"It's quite a difficult environment in there," said the. "It caught me very off guard at how loud it was. I was kind of eavesdropping in the locker room and Ben Shelton and those guys were saying they want to stay on (Arthur) Ashe because of the noise, but I didn't really understand what that meant, and then I understood pretty quick."

On the other hand, the result was a very impressive one for Zverev, who has struggled in the recent past in the early stages of the competition. Talking about his own performance on the day, Zverev stated that he feels his level ‘has been good’. “I think my level has been good,” said Zverev while talking to the media after the match. “It's been decent. I know that opponents will get extremely difficult the further I get, and a lot of things will change, but I'm happy where my level is at after two matches.”

Zverev’s next opponent will be Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime. The 25-year-old cemented his spot in the last 32 of the US Open after beating Russia’s Roman Safiullin in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 7-6, 7-6. It will be the ninth meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous eight meetings, Zverev had a clear advantage, winning on six occasions and suffering just two defeats.

Interestingly, however, both players have only met once in a Grand Slam, which was in the fourth round at Wimbledon back in 2021. In that contest, Auger-Aliassime came out on top in a five-set thriller with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4. Their most recent meeting came in the round of 64 of the Miami Open last year, where Zverev emerged victorious in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4. Talking about his next round’s opponent, Zverev remains wary of Auger-Aliassime, but he also remains optimistic that he will be able to continue his domination with another win on Saturday.

“He's somebody that when he plays well, he plays really well,” said Zverev of Auger-Aliassime. “When he doesn't play well, he really doesn't play well. He's in the third round, that means he's playing well. It's a difficult match, but I think it's a matchup that historically has fared me quite well. I hope it's going to be the case in two days' time.”