Jacob Fearnley claimed world No.3 Alex Zverev deliberately kept him waiting "a long time" in an act of gamesmanship before their second round clash at the US Open. And the British No.3 claimed the German - like Novak Djokovic - has form for delaying the start against lower-ranked opposition. "He knows what he's doing," said the Scot. "It was the same in Australia

The world No.60 admitted he surprised by the noise in the Louis Armstrong Stadium - and he is a doubt for the Davis Cup tie next month after suffering a shoulder injury in his 6-4 6-4 6-4 defeat. But he revealed he was kept waiting by the 2020 runner-up, who also beat him at the Australian Open, before the start.

"It was a long time," said Fearnley. "It was about ten minutes because they called me at 6.49, and then I think we ended up walking at like 7.01 or something like that. So, yeah, it is a little bit of time because you do like a 20-minute warm-up, and then you're standing there.

You know, it's pretty quiet. So, yeah, it was an interesting one."

"I kind of expected it. My coach expected it. It was the same in Australia, and he's always like: 'Oh, I'm sorry about that'.

But he knows what he's doing. It was the same with Novak in Wimbledon. They take their time - I don't know if it's within the rules or not.

I don't really know what the rule is. I don't want to bend it, If they call me, I show up, you know, because I don't know necessarily what's going to happen. He's well within his right to take his time.I kind of expected it. Every time I played him, he kind of did the same."

Cam Norrie and Novak Djokovic exchanged barbs after their meeting at the 2023 Rome Masters after the British No.1 accused the Serbian superstar of turning up late for their tie.

"He wanted some more time on the physio bed and the match was scheduled for 11am," claimed Norrie. "And we walked out maybe 11.12am, 11.13am. I don't think he saw any problem with that. He never said anything to me. And he never apologised."

Zverev needed six set points to see off Fearnley and then told him at the net: "Where did that come from? Well played. "

The Scot said: "I guess it was because I had a dip, I think, from about one all in the third for about three or four games. I was pretty non-existent, and then that game at 5-2, I ended up hitting some great shots, and I assume that that was what he was meaning."

Fearnley added: "It's quite a difficult environment in there. It caught me very off guard at how loud it was. I didn't, like after the first game, I said to the umpire: 'Like, is it usually this loud?

Is it supposed to be this loud?' So that was quite difficult to get used to.

"Those few games, the shots that I was hitting, it was definitely getting the crowd going, which was a really cool experience.

I'm not really one for kind of getting the crowd too involved, but that was pretty, that was fun. I'll definitely remember those few games for sure."

Fearnley "felt like a little pop in my shoulder" serving but said: "I'm obviously going to see a doctor and see what it is, but I'm not too concerned."

Great Britain play a Davis Cup tie in Poland on September 12-13 with British No.1 Jack Draper already out.

The Scot sent down another 12 double faults - to total 30 in his two matches here - and said: "It's definitely something that I've got to fix, because I'm just giving points away."