Jacob Fearnley launches ‘Scottish revenge mission’ as he looks to take down Stan Wawrinka
Jacob Fearnley has stated that he has launched a ‘Scottish revenge mission’ against Stan Wawrinka, ahead of his first-round match at the French Open.
The Brit is due to make his debut at the Parisian Grand Slam against the Swiss, who dominated former world No 1 Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in their first-round meeting at last year’s edition.
Fearnley has never faced Wawrinka before, but has sent strong signals that he is looking forward to the clash.
“We can see it like a Scottish revenge mission,” the world No 54 joked, during his pre-tournament press conference.
“I remember he beat him [Andy Murray]. I couldn’t remember if it was last year or not, but yeah, definitely we could see it like that. Hopefully I can get the revenge for Scotland!
“It’s pretty crazy, yeah, 3 years old [when Wawrinka turned professional in 2005]. I guess I was about to turn 4. That’s pretty cool, yeah.”
“I hope I will still be playing at 40. I know the game is extremely physical, so for Wawrinka to still be playing at the level he’s playing at his age is extremely admirable.
“Yeah, if I can have any type of longevity that he had, that would be amazing. Yeah, to still be playing at 40, playing Grand Slams is pretty incredible.”
Of course, Wawrinka is a former French Open champion, lifting the title in 2015 after a four-set victory over tournament-favourite Novak Djokovic in the showpiece match.
He backed up that run with a semi-final appearance in 2016 (losing to Andy Murray) and reached another final in 2017 (falling to Rafael Nadal).
Since then, the Swiss’s best result is a quarter-final result in 2019 (defeated by Roger Federer), with Wawrinka failing to reach the third round during his last three participations.
“I know he’s a previous champion and had a lot of success here,” said Fearnley.
“So, yeah, it’s a great match for me to play. I’ve played in some tough environments. Kyrgios [2025 Australian Open] was definitely one of them. Yeah, I know the French crowd get behind matches, and they can be pretty rowdy.
“Yeah, obviously I expect that, but I’m more just thinking about playing the match. Getting the opportunity to play Wawrinka here in Roland Garros is really special. Just trying to enjoy every moment.”
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Fearnley has now had his fair share of experience – participating at multiple Grand Slams, including a match against Djokovic – but is only in his third season on the professional tour, something which has seemingly still not fully set in for the Edinburgh-born 23-year-old.
“I still do get starstruck,” he admitted.
“Definitely. Like in Rome the other day (Jannik) Sinner came and gave me a handshake, and he moves on.
“I looked at my coach like: ‘Whoa, that’s pretty cool’. Sinner is my age. Imagine when (Novak) Djokovic says: ‘Hi’, to me, it’s still a little bit strange. I always smile at my coach whenever that happens, and we smile at each other because it is cool moments.
“I don’t like to take those for granted because I never thought that I would get to the point where Novak would say: ‘Hi’ to me or even Gael Monfils or someone like that. Yeah, definitely do get a little bit starstruck. I wouldn’t say I’m 100% used to it, but no, it’s still really cool.”
Should Fearnley’s ‘revenge’ mission be successful, he would face either Christopher O’Connell or – more likely – 22nd seed Ugo Humbert, before a potential clash with former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev.
