A year ago, none but the most ardent of tennis fans would have heard of Jacob Fearnley, one of two British men to fight through to the third round of the Australian Open.

Fearnley watched last year’s Australian Open from Fort Worth, where he was still at college at Texas Christian University and ranked 646th in the world. Twelve months later, he is likely to finish this event at No 77 or thereabouts.

After knocking out Nick Kyrgios in the first round, Fearnley fought back from a set down in the second round to beat France’s Arthur Cazaux 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. He was also up against a set of noisy French fans, who were so loud that the match on the adjacent court had to be moved.

As a junior, Fearnley was a rival and contemporary of Jack Draper – the other Briton still standing in the men’s draw in Melbourne following his victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis on Wednesday.

Speaking after his victory over Cazaux, Fearnley explained: “I think we were around about 10 maybe [when we first met]. I remember we played on green clay in Gosling [a tennis centre near St Albans].”

Asked who had won the match, Fearnley, now 23, replied, “I can’t remember the score, but I’m pretty sure I did because I think I remember his dad saying to my mum that he was going to make sure he got some clay-court lessons after the match.

“We travelled a lot [together], and we did play some cool matches, under-12, under-14, and then he kind of went way higher than me. I went the college path. He kind of shot up, and then I went a different direction. We still kept in touch on the odd occasion.”

Born in Scotland, Fearnley grew up just outside of Edinburgh and was introduced to the sport by his grandparents after first picking up a tennis racket in their back garden aged three.

As well as coming up against Draper in junior competitions, Fearnley also played against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, and admitted he looked up to Sir Andy Murray, calling the former Wimbledon champion the “best role model that a British tennis player can have, especially [for] a Scottish player like myself.”

Having once practised with Roger Federer as a 17-year-old at Wimbledon, Fearnley made the unorthodox decision to attend Texas Christian University (TCU) instead of turning professional.

“I went to college because I still wanted to play professional tennis afterwards, but I just didn’t feel ready physically, emotionally. TCU was the right place for me in order to achieve those goals,” he said.

A sporting university with impressive credentials, TCU boasts nine Paris 2024 Olympians among its current and former “horned frogs”, including Cameron Norrie, as well as more than 200 professional American football players.

During his time in the United States, Fearnley suffered a series of injuries that affected his progress, including a stress fracture, rotator cuff, torn abdominals and a lower back injury.

But in his final year of university, Fearnley led TCU with such distinction that they clinched the national championships. From there, it was time for the professional tour.

In April 2024, five years after electing to go to university, Fearnley turned professional. Two months later, he won his first ATP Challenger Tour title, beating fellow Briton Charles Broom in the final of Nottingham to become only the fourth British player to win the title after Murray, Dan Evans and Greg Rusedski.

Fearnley was awarded a wildcard spot in the main draw of Wimbledon because of his Nottingham success, and made it through the opening round of last summer’s event.

Then, while facing Novak Djokovic in the second round, Fearnley won a set and produced 42 winners in a four-set defeat. It was his first experience of Centre Court.

After Wimbledon, Fearnley won three events on the Challenger Tour to break into the world’s top 100, earning himself a place in Great Britain’s Davis Cup team and in the main draw of this Australian Open.

Fearnley will take on second seed Alexander Zverev in the third round at Melbourne Park, but his first year as a professional tennis player has already been impressive.