Samuel 'caught off guard' as Britain take 2-0 lead in Davis Cup qualifier
Toby Samuel said he was 'caught off guard' after winning his Davis Cup debut on Friday, getting Great Britain off to a winning start in their qualifying tie against Ecuador at London's Copper Box Arena.
Samuel recovered from a set down to beat Andres Andrade 4-6 6-4 6-1, and Arthur Fery followed with a 7-5 6-0 victory over Alvaro Guillen Meza to give Britain a 2-0 lead.
Samuel, 24, has enjoyed a breakthrough 2026 season and has made his debut at three Grand Slams. He climbed from outside the world's top 250 to 95th in the men's singles rankings in the past nine months. He was only handed his chance to play in the Davis Cup on Friday after British number two Cameron Norrie pulled out of the tie with an arm injury. Fery has risen to 36th in the world following his run to the last four at Wimbledon and the final at Winston-Salem.
Andres Andrade, ranked 203rd, dominated the early stages by winning the opening four games and took the first set 6-4. Samuel steadied to win a tight second set 6-4. He then stormed through the decider in 28 minutes, dropping just one game to complete a 4-6 6-4 6-1 victory.
"It's a completely new experience for me playing Davis Cup and it definitely caught me off guard how much it meant to me going out there for my first time," Samuel told BBC Sport. "It almost felt like a bigger deal than playing any Slam for me." "This was a big dream of mine and you could sort of tell because I got a bit nervous at the start, but I got myself going and I am so happy I got the job done for Great Britain," he said in his on-court interview.
As Samuel made his way courtside to watch along with the raucous crowd, Fery made his first appearance for his country as the British number one. Fery was forced to work hard in an enthralling hour-long opening set, edging the first set 7-5. He then won eight games in a row to sweep aside world number 293 Alvaro Guillen Meza, taking the second set 6-0.
"We're used to travelling alone the whole year and coming out as a team in front of all you of you guys today in London is unbelievable," Fery said to the crowd. "The tennis schedule is pretty relentless and we are playing week after week so you have to keep that motivation high, but it's easy to keep that motivation when you are playing for your country and representing the GB colours in front of everyone here with a team like this."
Henry Patten and Neal Skupski can wrap up the best-of-five tie at the earliest opportunity if they triumph in Sunday's doubles from 12:00 BST. If they do not, Fery and Samuel will have to return to the court for the reverse singles to try and secure Britain's place in the knockout stage for the first time since 2023. The seven winners of this weekend's qualifying ties will join three-time defending champions Italy in the Davis Cup Finals in Bologna from 24 to 29 November.