Jacob Fearnley’s exceptional form has earned him a maiden call-up to Great Britain’s Davis Cup squad for their upcoming tie with Japan this month.

Fearnley was outside the top 500 before he won his first ATP Challenger event in Nottingham in June and followed it up with a string of other titles in 2024, alongside an impressive display against Novak Djokovic in a second-round exit at Wimbledon.

The Edinburgh-born 23-year-old has risen to 86 in the world as a result of a fine six months and Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith has selected him in a four-man squad for a first round qualifier with Japan later this month.

British No 2 Cameron Norrie, world No 126 Billy Harris and doubles Grand-Slam champion Neal Skupski complete the line-up for the away tie, which will be played at Bourbon Beans Dome in Miki across the weekend of January 31-February 1.

British No 1 Jack Draper had already confirmed last month he would not feature in this tie, after discussions with Smith following a recent hip issue, and Fearnley – who is involved in next week’s Australian Open for the first time – is profiting from it.

The call-up of Fearnley could also signal the end of Dan Evans’ Davis Cup career after the 34-year-old acknowledged following Great Britain’s defeat to Canada in September that it could be time for him to leave the party.

Evans has represented Great Britain in 28 Davis Cup ties but dropped to 160 in the world amid poor form, with his latest loss coming at Australian Open qualifying against Japan’s James Trotter on Monday.

Great Britain are the 11th seeds in this year’s Davis Cup, with the winners of their match against Japan then facing either Germany or Israel in the next round in September.

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