Arthur Fery embracing Davis Cup challenge as GB target Finals spot

Arthur Fery is ready to embrace a new role as leader of Great Britain's Davis Cup team as they look to avoid embarrassment against Ecuador.

Britain take on the South Americans at the Copper Box in London this weekend bidding to book their spot in the final eight for the first time since 2023.

Leon Smith's team were dealt a blow on the eve of the tie with Cameron Norrie, their only remaining experienced singles player in the absence of Jack Draper, ruled out by an arm injury.

Stepping up for Friday's singles, therefore, will be Wimbledon semifinalist Fery and 95th-ranked Toby Samuel, who boast only a single appearance in the competition between them.

That came a year ago, when Fery made his debut with victory over Poland's Olaf Pieczkowski.

"Leon gave me that trust to play a match in Poland, so that helped me a lot," said Fery, who at the time was ranked down at 227.

"It's been a great year, I've played a lot of matches, gained a lot of experience, which will hopefully also serve me for this Davis Cup tie. I'm really looking forward to it and I have trust in everyone that we're going to be able to get it done."

Fery is now ranked 36th and no longer a little-known quantity thanks to his spectacular run to the last four at Wimbledon as a wild card, which he followed up by reaching his first ATP Tour final in the U.S. last month.

The 24-year-old will start as a substantial favourite against world No. 293 Alvaro Guillen Meza on Friday, while Samuel is also ranked significantly higher than Ecuadorian No. 1 Andres Andrade (ranked world No. 203).

But history shows that such ranking gaps can matter little in the Davis Cup, and Ecuador will hope their greater experience in the competition can be their trump card.

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Smith said: "Obviously it helps to have played even once but you've got to start [somewhere].

"And the great thing is every single one of the players sitting here has had brilliant years. So they're in form and and it's really over to [them to] enjoy that responsibility. Over the years I've done this, I've had plenty of debutants that have done extremely well."

Ecuador can draw on a recent major upset having knocked out Australia in the qualifiers in February -- albeit with the benefit of high altitude in Quito -- while a look back to 2000 against the same opposition should knock any complacency out of the British ranks.

A team featuring Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski suffered one of their biggest humiliations in the competition when they were beaten 3-2 on grass at Wimbledon, with then 17-year-old Giovanni Lapentti coming from two sets down to beat Arvind Parmar in the deciding rubber.

For Ecuador, it was a seismic result, with Gonzalo Escobar, who will play in the doubles match here, recalling: "I remember I was in a national tournament, under-10.

"I didn't know the magnitude of the feat at the time but I remember everybody was going crazy. Giovanni became a national figure, so did [captain] Raul [Viver]. For us, growing up, it definitely lifted this sport in the whole country."

Viver remains captain 26 years later and has his sights set on a repeat.

"I have a lot of good memories about that tie and we came here to try to do it again," he said.

New US Open champion Neal Skupski and world number one Henry Patten make up Britain's doubles pair, while Harry Wendelken has been drafted in as Norrie's replacement.