Davis Cup 2025: Great Britain defeated by Japan in Qualifiers first round
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Great Britain’s hopes of reaching the Davis Cup Qualifiers second round have come to an end following a 3-2 defeat to Japan at the Bourbon Beans Dome in Miki.
The Lexus GB team took Japan to a deciding rubber but couldn’t quite get over the line as the host nation clinched the final win to secure their spot in September’s Qualifiers second round.
This loss means that Great Britain will have to compete in a World Group I tie later in September for a chance to battle it out once again in the 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers.
GB Davis Cup Captain and LTA Head of Men’s Tennis 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 number four 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."
Great Britain vs Japan match results
| Match day one | Billy Harris lost vs Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5, 6-1 |
| Jacob Fearnley won vs Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3 | |
| Match day two | Joe Salisbury & Neal Skupski won vs Yosuke Watanuki & Takeru Yuzuki 7-6(4), 7-6(2) |
| Jacob Fearnley lost vs Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 7-6(0) | |
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Billy Harris lost vs Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-3 |
Davis Cup debutant Jacob Fearnley put in an impressive effort on Friday against Kei Nishikori to spark alight the Brits' hopes of a victory. The hopes were further amplified on Saturday when former world No.1s Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury combined to beat Yosuke Watanuki and Takeru Yuzuki in the doubles rubber and put their nation one match win away from the second round of qualifiers.
However, despite valiant efforts, neither Fearnley nor British No.4 Billy Harris could get over the line in Saturday' singles matches as the experienced Nishioka and Nishikori prevailed to claim victory for Japan.
Reflecting on the tie, Skupski 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 (his teammates) 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."
More information on who and when Great Britain will next play at the Davis Cup will be available soon.
