Jacob Fearnley faces another sizeable challenge in his fledgling professional tennis career as he bids to lead Britain’s under-strength Davis Cup team to victory in their qualifier against Japan.
The 23-year-old Scot will make his debut for his country at the Bourbon Beans Dome in Miki on Friday, and a combination of his meteoric rise and the absence of other top names means he will play as Britain’s number one.
Jack Draper decided last month to skip the tie because of an ongoing hip problem that saw him retire mid-match against Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open while Cameron Norrie, having originally been selected, withdrew and opted to train in the USA instead.
Captain Leon Smith is also without Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champion Henry Patten, another who decided to skip the tie.
Fearnley is joined by Billy Harris, who won on his debut in September, and experienced doubles duo Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, while the fifth member of the team is now 388th-ranked British number 12 Giles Hussey, who stepped in after Jan Choinski was forced out through illness.
Britain’s hopes are likely to depend mainly on the success or otherwise of Fearnley, whose ranking has risen to 77 after he reached the third round of the Australian Open on his debut, beating Nick Kyrgios and his raucous supporters before losing to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev.
Fearnley will face resurgent former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori on Friday and Yoshihito Nishioka on Saturday, with Harris playing the reverse matches, while the doubles kicks off the action on the second day.
“I’m just grateful to be playing,” said Fearnley, who only turned professional last spring after finishing college in the USA.
“I played Kei in a Challenger a couple of months ago so if I get the chance to have a little bit of revenge that would be nice but I know he’s playing extremely well and he’s actually one of the greats of the game, so to play him in Japan, and I know he’s a king over there, that will be a cool experience for sure.”
Fearnley has known Smith since he was a young child, while he went to many of the Davis Cup ties in Glasgow over the last 15 years as a spectator, including the victories over the US and Australia during Britain’s title run in 2015.
A favourite memory, meanwhile, came the following year when he watched Andy Murray beat Nishikori in Birmingham in Britain’s last clash with Japan.
“That was an insane match,” he said. “I was sat right behind the box and that was amazing tennis, I was in awe of those two, they were playing unbelievable. I look back very fondly on the Davis Cup.”
Smith has followed Fearnley’s progress with great interest and challenged him and Harris, who turned 30 this week, to seize their chance.
“It’s been really, really impressive what Jacob’s been doing since he turned pro,” said Smith.
“You see what he’s been able to do at the Australian Open, he coped with the Kyrgios match extremely well. Also the match against Zverev, he equipped himself extremely well. That’s all positive signs.
“I’ve seen it before in the past, the ties when we haven’t had our top players there, and it’s time for others to take that opportunity, win or lose, and learn from it and give their best effort.”
The winners of the tie will progress to a second round of home-and-away matches in September following another change to the format, while the losers face a relegation play-off.
