Young Brit Jacob Fearnley reveals why he's deleted his Instagram account ahead of Nick Kyrgios clash at Australian Open
Share:
Someone had to draw the short straw and it turned out to be young Scot Jacob Fearnley who has the nightmare of squaring off with Nick Kyrgios in the Australian Open first round. Playing on a protected ranking of No.21, Kyrgios makes his grand slam comeback after more than two years on the sidelines at Melbourne Park on Monday.
![[Fearnley says he's expecting the crowd to be against him at John Cain Arena]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/12/05/94003189-14275267-image-a-300_1736658284035.jpg)
The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up always shaped as the most dangerous unseeded floater in the 128-man draw, prompting Fearnley to batten down the hatches almost from the minute he was pitted against Kyrgios on Friday. 'I actually deleted Instagram. I was getting a lot of messages. I wanted to try and stay as centred as possible,' Fearnley said.
![[Kyrgios makes his grand slam comeback after more than two years on the sidelines at Melbourne Park]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/12/05/94003191-14275267-image-a-301_1736658294685.jpg)
While he will still be a big underdog against an derdone Kyrgios, the 23-year-old Fearnley is certainly no tennis mug. The world No.86 made his grand slam debut as a Wimbledon wildcard last year, advancing to the second round and taking a set off the great Novak Djokovic.
Nick Kyrgios presents a unique first-round challenge for Jacob Fearnley (pictured). Fearnley says he's expecting the crowd to be against him at John Cain Arena. But he knows he will have hit his work cut out playing the home favourite on his beloved John Cain Arena.
'It's not a match you want to see in Australia,' he said. 'I know that the crowd's going to be against me. Obviously there was a lot of excitement as well (about the draw) because it's not a common match. 'I've been to some pretty hostile environments. Probably not as many people as are going to be watching on Monday.
