Wimbledon rookie takes aim at Djokovic after beating Alcaraz, Sinner

LONDON – Not many players can boast victories over Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, but British rookie Jacob Fearnley has notched up that impressive double and now looks for a third in the shape of Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.

Fearnley's wins over reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz and World No. 1 Sinner came in his junior days.

Since then, their career paths have taken radically different directions — Alcaraz and Sinner are winning Grand Slams and banking millions of dollars while Fearnley is heading to university in the United States.

"I played Alcaraz when he was maybe 14, I was 17. Sinner, I played him maybe when we were 15," said 22-year-old Fearnley on Tuesday.

"Obviously the strides they've taken in their games have been a lot more than myself. The way they're playing, it's unbelievable.

"I don't think I can really take anything from those victories."

Fearnley won his first Grand Slam match on debut on Tuesday; it was also his first win of any kind on the main tour.

Before seeing off Spain's Alejandro Moro Canas 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (14/12), his only professional match on the ATP tour came in Eastbourne last week where he was a first-round loser.

The week before, however, he illustrated his prowess on grass courts by coming out of qualifying to win a second-tier Challenger event in Nottingham.

"It's a bit crazy," said Fearnley, the world number 277.

He was referring to a month which also saw him help Texas Christian University win the national championships in the US at the end of his five-year college career.

Fearnley has already faced one Wimbledon giant in his time — at the 2018 tournament, he was drafted in as a hitting partner for Roger Federer.

"That was really cool. He's a super nice guy. Obviously a really, really special player. I learned a lot of things from those brief practice sessions," he said.

Now he faces comfortably one of the most daunting tasks in the sport — trying to defeat seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic in the second round on Thursday.

"I have no idea," said Fearnley when asked how he planned to author a seismic victory over a man who has won 24 Grand Slam titles.

"I've watched so many videos of him. It doesn't look like there's