Davis Cup Qualifiers 2025: Meet the Japan team set to take on Great Britain
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Great Britain are set to face Japan from 31 January – 1 February at the Bourbon Beans Dome in Miki, for the first round of the Davis Cup Qualifiers.
Leon Smith’s side will have to beat the Japanese team in order to set up a second round qualifying tie against either Germany or Israel, ahead of the Finals later in the year.
An away tie against Japan will be a challenging task for the Lexus GB Davis Cup team, which includes Jacob Fearnley, Billy Harris, Jan Choinski, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury.
The two nations have only faced each other twice in the tournament’s history, with GB winning on both occasions (1931 and 2016).
Japan are back in the top tier of the competition after coming through the World Group last year and boast a strong side with three singles players ranked inside the world’s top 100 and a former top five star in their midst.
Here we breakdown the full Japanese team with all you need to know ahead of the tie.
Japan’s Davis Cup squad to face Great Britain
- Yoshito Nishioka
- Kei Nishikori
- Taro Daniel
- Yosuke Watanuki
- Takeru Yuzuki
- Captain: Go Soeda
Yoshito Nishioka
- Age: 29
- Ranking: 67
- Davis Cup ties played: 11
- Davis Cup record: 11-6
Nishioka is the highest ranked singles player in the Japanese team and with a former world ranking at No.24 (2023) and three ATP titles to his name, the 29-year-old knows what it takes to compete at the very top of the game.
The highlight of his 2024 season will have no doubt been his title run in Atlanta back in July, where he defeated Frances Tiafoe, Arthur Rinderknech and Jordan Thompson en route to the trophy. He also made the quarter-finals in Eastbourne having come through qualifying.
The Japanese No.1 was instrumental in the team reaching the Davis Cup Finals Qualifiers for 2025 – winning all five of the singles and doubles rubbers he played a part in during the World Group Play-offs and World Group First Round against Lebanon and Colombia.
Kei Nishikori
- Age: 35
- Ranking: 70
- Davis Cup ties played: 13
- Davis Cup record: 21-3
Former world No.4 Nishikori will be the standout name in this Japanese team for many fans as the 2014 US Open runner-up gets set to further improve his near perfect Davis Cup record.
Last year, Nishikori made his first appearance in the event for eight years – helping his nation return to the top level of the competition with wins over Lebanon and Colombia.
The 12-time ATP title winner has been one of the talking points of the 2025 season so far. Having defeated British No.2 Cam Norrie in the Hong Kong Tennis Open quarter-finals, Nishikori went on to finish runner-up and secure his place back inside the top 100. This was off the back of winning the Helsinki Challenger is his final event of the previous season.
Drawing comparisons with Murray when it comes to injury issues during the latter stages of his career, Nishikori seems to be playing with a freedom and confidence that hasn’t been there in previous years and will be a dangerous opponent for any player in front of his home fans.
Taro Daniel
- Age: 31
- Ranking: 116
- Davis Cup ties played: 10
- Davis Cup record: 8-7
Daniel has been a mainstay in the Japanese squad for the last 11 years – having made his debut against the Czech Republic back in 2014.
The 31-year-old comes into the tie having finished the previous season in red hot form. The Japanese star won the singles title at the Taipei Challenger, finished runner-up in Seoul and made the semi-finals in Kobe.
He’s one of three players (including Nishioka and Nishikori) who was part of the team who lost to Great Britain in Birmingham in 2016 – losing a singles rubber against Andy Murray in straight sets.
Daniel boasts a strong record on outdoor courts at the Davis Cup – winning six of seven matches – but it’s the complete opposite indoors where he’s won just one rubber. This could play into the Brits’ favour at the Bourbon Beans Dome.
Yosuke Watanuki
- Age: 26
- Ranking: 341
- Davis Cup ties played: 7
- Davis Cup record: 5-4
Despite missing more than six months of last season, Watanuki demonstrated why he’s a former top 100 player in the back end of the year. On his return, Watanuki came through qualifying to reach the third round of the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai with wins over Pavel Kotov and then world No.35 Brandon Nakashima.
He closed out the season with a semi-final and quarter-final run in Challenger events before also making the quarter-final in Canberra a couple of weeks ago.
Three of his last four matches in the Davis Cup have come in the doubles rubber, so Watanuki could be a utility player for the Japanese side and one to watch out for.
Takeru Yuzuki
- Age: 26
- Ranking: 144 (doubles)
- Davis Cup ties played: N/A
- Davis Cup record: N/A
The current Japanese men’s doubles No.1 could be set to make his Davis Cup debut against the Brits, joining up with Soeda’s side for the first time.
The 26-year-old had a strong end to the season on home soil back in November, winning the Matsuyama Challenger event with Seita Watanabe before making the final in Kobe the week after. These were two of six doubles finals he reached in 2024, clinching three Challenger trophies and one ITF.
This year is set to be a big one for the 6'5" Japanese star as he aims to breakthrough onto the ATP Tour and a maiden Davis Cup victory will be high on his list of things to goals for the new season.
