Davis Cup: Team GB faces setbacks as Cameron Norrie withdraws due to illness

The Davis Cup is fast approaching, and Team GB is looking to make an impact in the competition this year. There is some exciting talent within their ranks, and captain Leon Smith hopes to capitalise on this. However, they have suffered some serious injury blows, including the losses of Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie.

The latter was unable to travel to Japan as he needed to recover from an illness that affected his performance at the Australian Open.

Norrie will not be competing for his country in this round, as he struggled with the flu in Melbourne and has decided to focus on regaining full fitness before returning to competition. It was a disappointing Australian Open for the British player as he suffered a first-round exit to Matteo Berrettini. Then, Norrie had to withdraw from doubles action alongside Marcus Willis.

His absence means Smith had to call up Jan Choinski as a replacement. Choinski is currently ranked 191st in the ATP rankings, meaning Britain is left without a player inside the top 75, as Draper has also withdrawn from the tournament. Smith spoke about Norrie's withdrawal and how it has affected the team.

"It's a shame Cam's not here," said Smith. "Originally, he was on the team and wanted to come here. He spoke to me in Australia, and he'd been sick with flu at the back end of it. That was well documented.

"He wasn't feeling great and decided to get back, train again, recover his full fitness and prepare for the run of events after this. It's just part of the schedule.

"We'd have loved to have him, but now we've got Jacob [Fearnley], Billy [Harris] and Jan [Choinski]. That's our singles. It's an excellent opportunity for them.

"I've seen the times where we haven't had our top players there, and it's time for others to take that opportunity to win or lose and learn from it and give their best effort."

Jacob Fearnley is a rising British star who impressed throughout the Australian Open. The Scotsman defeated Nick Kyrgios in the first round and followed it up with a win over France's Arthur Cazaux. He eventually fell short against runner-up Alexander Zverev, but it is safe to say the 23-year-old is firmly on people's radar now. Seeing how he competes for his country against Japan will be exciting.

"It's been impressive what Jacob's been doing since he turned pro last June," added Smith. "He got his opportunities on the grass with wildcards and took them, which allowed his ranking to keep going.

"You see what he was able to do at the Australian Open. He coped with the Kyrgios match exceptionally well. There was a brilliant atmosphere, and it was brilliant to come through a match like that.

"Equally, when he played [Arthur] Cazeaux on Court Six, it was a fantastic atmosphere, with a lot of French support, against a really good player, and he came through that.

"If you also look at the match against Zverev, he equipped himself extremely well. That's all positive signs."

Britain's team has some exciting prospects, and it will be interesting to see if they can deliver in the Davis Cup.