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Team GB Davis Cup captain Leon Smith reflects on 'difficult' defeat to Japan in qualifiers
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Published 01/02/2025 at 20:17 GMT
Great Britain's Davis Cup team battled to a 2-1 lead over their Japanese opponents in the Davis Cup qualifiers first round, but fell short of progressing when they lost the remaining rubbers in Miki. The hosts had Kei Nishikori and Yoshihito Nishioka to thank, as the experienced pair guided them through. GB skipper Leon Smith said defeat was "difficult" but highlighted their opponents' quality.
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Great Britain’s ambitions of reaching the second round of the Davis Cup qualifiers were dashed by a 3-2 defeat to Japan.
The two teams faced a decisive rubber in the final match of their match-up at the Bourbon Beans Dome in Miki in Japan, and it was the hosts who emerged victorious. They will now play in September’s second round.
Defeat for Team GB means that they will have to take part in a World Group I tie, also in September, for the opportunity to compete in the 2026 Davis Cup qualifiers.
In the opening match, Billy Harris lost to Yoshihito Nishioka, before Jacob Fearnley acquitted himself well on his debut on Friday to beat Kei Nishikori, which was followed up on Saturday by Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury downing Yosuke Watanuki and Takeru Yuzuki in their doubles match.
Japan then staged a fightback as Fearnley lost to Nishioka, and Harris then suffered a decisive 6-2 6-3 loss against Nishikori.
GB Davis Cup captain Leon Smith said: "Losing is difficult, but I can't fault the efforts of the four players here over the last two days, and the whole week for that matter.
"They've been great to work with, they gave everything they could on the match court. You win some, you lose some, but you can always control what you put in, and they've done that really, really well for their country.
"Congratulations to Japan - they played very well and have good depth in their team. You've got Nishioka who's been top 25, Nishikori has been No. 4 in the ATP rankings, so there's a lot of quality, and we pushed them hard. We wish Team Japan all the very best for the rest of this year as well."
Skupski was pleased with his efforts, praised his team-mates, and looked ahead to September’s matches.
He said: "I'm very proud of mine and Joe's performance today. We did exactly what we spoke about yesterday with our game plan.
"We came up against two massive servers and delivered on the bigger points, especially the tie-breaks, but it's obviously a difficult day for these boys, but they came up against two very good singles players in Nishioka and Nishikori.
"Like we said at the start of the week, these boys have put in an amazing effort and gave it their all. They should be really proud of what they've done - representing Great Britain, it's a real honour.
"Thanks again to Leon for picking us, and hopefully we can build on this and go again in September."
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