Jacob Fearnley beat former world quantity 4 Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 on his Davis Cup debut to degree Nice Britain’s first-round tie with Japan.
The 23-year-old, who beat Nick Kyrgios within the Australian Open earlier this month, has risen to 77 on the earth rankings from 646 over the previous 12 months.
The British quantity three continued his rise towards Nishikori to degree the qualifier at 1-1, following Yoshihito Nishioka’s 7-5 6-1 victory towards Billy Harris in Miki.
The tie shall be selected Saturday, when Fearnley takes on Nishioka and Nishikori faces Harris in a reverse of Friday’s singles matches.
British duo Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury play Yosuke Watanuki and Takeru Yuzuki within the doubles.
British primary Jack Draper pulled out of the tie with the intention to proceed his rehabilitation from a hip harm.
Cameron Norrie, the British quantity two, withdrew with sickness and his alternative, Jan Choinski, additionally pulled out.
