Jacob Fearnley earned a spot in the second round of the Miami Open with victory over Benjamin Bonzi.
A close battle lasting two hours and 19 minutes saw the Briton claim a 7-6 2-6 6-4 win and he will now meet world number two and top seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.
Little separated Fearnley and Bonzi in the first set as both players held their serve to reach a tiebreaker, where qualifier Fearnley edged ahead to take the second set point of the match.
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Another tight encounter followed at the start of the second, but Bonzi suddenly pulled away after breaking the Briton’s serve twice to win the set.
Prior to the third set Fearnley took a medical timeout and, following another closely-contested set, the 23-year-old managed to see the match out to reach the last 64.
What an EFFORT 👊@jakefearnley01 finds a way to get the better of Bonzi 6-7(6) 6-2 6-4 and will face the top seed Zverev in the next round!@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/rX4s4JCuQM
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 20, 2025
Speaking to Sky Sports, Fearnley said: “That was extremely difficult, I was feeling my legs, especially my left leg twitching a little bit when I moved to a forehand.
“Just had to dig deep and luckily I got the break at the start of the third because I think that could have easily got away from me. Super happy to get the win and to move on.”
