Great Britain took a big step towards next year’s Davis Cup qualifiers as Cameron Norrie and Arthur Fery both won to give them a 2-0 lead over Poland.
World number 34 Norrie survived a scare against world number 545 Tomasz Berkieta to win his nation’s opening World Group 1 match 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 in Gdynia, Poland.
Fery, ranked 227 in the world, then battled to a 6-4 6-2 victory over Olaf Pieczkowski, ranked 484.
The 23-year-old was making his Davis Cup debut after British number three Jacob Fearnley pulled out with a rib injury.
Britain need one more win on Saturday to reach February’s first round and therefore have a shot at winning the title in 2026.
The world’s number one doubles pair, Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash, will make their debut in Saturday’s doubles, which will be followed by two reverse singles.
World number seven Jack Draper was unavailable for the tie because of an arm injury which has ruled him out of the remainder of the season.
