Jacob Fearnley beat former world quantity 4 Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-3 on his Davis Cup debut to stage 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 planet rankings from 646 over the previous 12 months.
The British quantity three continued his rise in opposition to Nishikori to stage the qualifier at 1-1, following Yoshihito Nishioka’s 7-5 6-1 victory in opposition to Billy Harris in Miki.
The tie might 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 damage.
Cameron Norrie, the British quantity two, withdrew with sickness and his alternative, Jan Choinski, additionally pulled out.