16 hours ago
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Toby Samuel says he was "caught off guard" about how much his Davis Cup debut meant to him as he got Great Britain off to a winning start in their qualifying tie against Ecuador.
The 24-year-old overcame nerves to fight back from a set down against Andres Andrade and put the hosts in front at London's sold-out Copper Box Arena.
Team-mate Arthur Fery, playing on home soil for the first time since his astonishing run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, then gave Britain a 2-0 lead with a commanding 7-5 6-0 win over Alvaro Guillen Meza.
"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, who has enjoyed a breakthrough 2026 season, told BBC Sport.
"It almost felt like a bigger deal than playing any Slam for me."
Samuel has made his debut at three Grand Slams and climbed from outside of 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 opening Davis Cup singles on Friday after British number two Cameron Norrie pulled out of the tie with an arm injury.
His debut got off to a tricky start as Andrade, ranked 203rd in the world, won the opening four games without reply en route to taking the first set 6-4.
But Samuel recovered to successfully navigate a tight second set before storming through the decider in 28 minutes, dropping just one game to wrap up a 4-6 6-4 6-1 win.
"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.
Great Britain captain Leon Smith said he was impressed by Samuel's coolness under pressure during his Davis Cup debut.
"He was absolutely pumped to be selected, when I called him when I was in New York - you could tell the excitement down the phone," Smith told BBC Sport.
"Sometimes it's actually easier, in inverted commas, maybe playing away from home in that debut where there are less eyes on you, less expectations.
"When he went 4-0 down, what impressed me was he stayed calm and he was very good to talk to in the chair."
