Fearnley, Norrie to Sq. off in French Open Third Spherical

PARIS, France –TCU males’s tennis has realized a decades-long dream of seeing two of its former gamers compete in opposition to each other in a Grand Slam fundamental draw.
 
Three-time All-People Jake Fearnley and Cam Norrie will battle it out within the third spherical of the 2025 French Open on Saturday afternoon at Stade Roland Garros. The match will air on the TNT Sports activities household of networks.
 
The seminal second is nothing in need of historic for TCU and school tennis at massive. Fearnley and Norrie’s head-to-head is probably going the primary time in 24 years two gamers with a shared alma mater have squared off in a Grand Slam. It’s believed {that a} second spherical match at The Championships, Wimbledon 2021 between Stanford’s Paul Goldstein and Jeff Tarango was the newest incidence of a pair of program alumni assembly in a significant championship.
 
Fearnley and Norrie, the British No. 2 and No. 3, every secured spectacular opening spherical wins to place the all-TCU showdown throughout the realm of risk. Fearnley despatched off 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in straight units, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2, on Monday. Norrie had the unenviable process of dealing with No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev, a person he had by no means beforehand defeated, the next morning. The previous world No. 8, Norrie rallied for an exhilarating five-set victory, ousting Medvedev 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5.
 
Norrie’s upset arrange a positive second spherical bout on Thursday vs. No. 147 Federico Augustin Gomez. He rolled previous the Argentinian, 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-1.
 
Fearnley drew No. 22 Ugo Humbert of France later within the afternoon. He claimed the opening set 6-3 and was degree at 4-4 within the second body earlier than Humbert was pressured to retire.
 
Saturday’s victor is assured a spot within the remaining 16 at Roland Garros, the place a date with No. 6 seed Novak Djokovic probably awaits. 
 
The match marks the primary time Fearnley and Norrie have ever crossed paths on the professional circuit.
 
TCU is the lone program within the nation with two collegians nonetheless competing in Paris.
 
A win represents totally different outcomes for each gamers. 
 
For Norrie, it continues a mid-season profession renaissance. Norrie was a mainstay within the top-10 of the ATP rankings in 2022 following his run to the semifinals of The Championships, Wimbledon. He had slipped to No. 91 earlier in Could on the heels of a 2024 season hamstrung by accidents. Forward of Saturday’s showdown, Norrie has risen to 72^nd provisionally, buoyed by his pair of French Open victories and a semifinal run on the ATP 250 Geneva Open.
 
In Fearnley’s case, a defeat of his countryman and fellow TCU alumnus solely fuels his meteoric rise. Fearnley was ranked 1,885^th in October of 2023 whereas Norrie manned the British No. 1 billing. Lengthy aspiring to hitch Norrie on the principle draw, he grew to become considered one of solely two gamers within the sport’s historical past to crack the highest 100 of the ATP singles rankings lower than a yr after graduating from school. Fearnley reached the third spherical of the Australian Open in January in his second Slam look. He’s as much as a provisional rating of No. 48, signifying his first profession look within the ATP top-50.