No divine intervention needed! Jacob Fearnley downs home favourite Fabio Fognini in straight sets - in Italian Open clash interrupted by announcement of new Pope Leo XIV
Proper news from Britain - News from Britain you won’t find anywhere else. Not the tosh the big media force-feed you every day!
- Fearnley bypassed the retiring Italian 6-2, 6-3 in a cauldron of noise in Rome
- But match briefly disturbed by news from across the city in St Peter's Square
- The Briton could end the week inside the top 50 if he continues to clay run
First he was forced off court by a national power outage in Madrid and then, in Rome, a new Pope was announced in the middle of his match - Jacob Fearnley must be wondering if tennis is always this bizarre.
The 23-year-old Scot was leading Fabio Fognini 5-2 when a picture of Pope Leo XIV came up on the scoreboard, to the delight of the locals.
The man formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost is actually a keen tennis player so the timing of the conclave felt appropriate. Given his relative youth for a Pontifex - he is 69 - perhaps he will make the 3km trip to the Foro Italico for a hit when he is not busy running the Catholic Church.
Even without that historic moment, this would have been another memorable occasion for Fearnley.
After beating Nick Kyrgios in perhaps his last Australian Open, Fearnley faced Fognini in what is certainly his last Italian Open.
‘I've played some crazy matches,’ said Fearnley. ‘Playing Nick in Australia, the power outage was like one in a million. Playing Fabio here and then there the Pope gets on the screen. It's pretty comical - it honestly helps me, stuff like that, it lightens the mood a little bit, I always giggle to myself. It’s a cool thing to tell people.’
In announcing this would be his final visit to the Foro Italico, Fognini said his favourite moment from his 18 visits to Rome was his 2017 defeat of then-world No1 Andy Murray.
‘I live for those moments,’ the 37-year-old said. ‘My character is like that. I play with passion, and sometimes too much. But when I was playing my best tennis here, the crowd was really happy to see me beating Andy.’
The first two points were pure Fognini: a return he missed clearly long but requested a replay of the call be shown, and gestured in annoyance when none was forthcoming. In the second point he whipped a forehand cross court and strolled into the net to hit an effortless half-volley winner. He then spat on the clay.
An effortlessly stylish player, Fognini has also had his fair share of controversy. At Wimbledon, he once said in Italian: ‘I wish a bomb would drop on this club.’ He and Murray got into an argument in 2019, with the Scot famously telling Fognini to shut up.
Such a row was never likely with Murray’s more mild-mannered countryman. Fearnley, as he did against Kyrgios in Melbourne, did his best to bottle any emotion and block out the crowd.
‘I did get a little bit of a headache midway through the match because of the noise of the crowd,’ he said. ‘It does get pretty loud, and also because we're in like a bowl, it accentuates it a little bit more.’
This was not Fearnley’s cleanest match, against a man whose legs can no longer keep up with the magic in his hands.
He served five double faults and went a break down in each set, although he recovered to record a comfortable enough victory.
‘I was super happy that I was able to share the court with Fabio in Rome,’ said Fearnley, giving the crowd what they wanted. ‘I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.’
The world No57 - this win had him closing on the top 50 - became the fifth British player into the second round. Jack Draper, Emma Raducanu, Sonay Kartal and Cam Norrie will all play on Friday.
Across the two big clay-court mixed sex events of Madrid and Rome, Britain has had 11 players in the second rounds, compared to four in both 2024 and 2023.
So what will happen next: a British French Open champion or the next Pope? For Draper – and Leo XIV – let’s hope it is the former.
.jpg)
