Fearnley saw his Wimbledon tournament ended in the first round as he was beaten by Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca.
Fearnley, 23, had never lost an opening-round match at a Grand Slam before but was outclassed by his 18-year-old opponent 6-4 6-1 7-6 (7-5)
This was only Fonseca’s second victory on grass but he has caught the eye this year with a number of impressive performances, beating Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open in January and then winning his first ATP Tour title in February with the Argentina Open.
Fearnley has enjoyed his own meteoric rise in recent times, climbing from outside the top 500 just over a year ago to arriving at this tournament 51st in the world.
He had looked set to grab the first-set advantage, hitting a fine overhead volley on his way to securing three break points.
But Fonseca took the next eight points in a row to turn the match on its head, claiming the break himself and then serving out for the first set.
Fearnley had no answer for Fonseca in a damaging second set that lasted just 23 minutes and although he put up more of a fight in the third, the teenager edged the tie-break to progress.