“To get the call up was a dream come true” - Julian Cash & Lloyd Glasspool on their dominant season & joining the Davis Cup team
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Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool have achieved plenty of milestones over the last 12 months, and they’ve just ticked off another after receiving their first call up to the Lexus Great Britain Davis Cup squad.
Coming off the back of a sensational year that’s seen them haul six titles and become the No.1 ranked doubles team on the ATP Tour, Cash and Glasspool received a well-deserved call up and could be set to make their debuts for their country in just a few days' time.
They come in as the highest ranked players in Captain Leon Smith’s side and could be set to make their debut in the upcoming World Group I tie against Poland, where the Brits are bidding to book a spot in the 2026 Qualifiers.
“It means a lot,” Cash said on how it feels to receive the call up. “It’s a surreal moment - something I’ve dreamt of my whole life. British doubles is incredibly strong so it’s not something I ever took for granted or thought I’d be able to do, so to get the call from Leon was a dream come true.
“I was in the physio room (when I got the call). As soon as I saw his (Leon’s) name pop up I knew it was going to be either good or bad news so I was prepared for both. Having seen the team now and the full line up I’m really excited to spend some time with those guys, I get on with them all really well so I think we’re going to have a really fun week.”
The all-British duo have undoubtedly been the most in-form partnership on the ATP doubles tour this year. They kick-started their 2025 campaign by lifting the Brisbane International title before picking up their first ATP 500 title in Doha the following month.
However, it wasn’t until the grass court swing where they truly announced their arrival as the dominant partnership this season.
After finishing runners-up in Berlin, the pair embarked on a 19-match unbeaten run that saw them clinch the HSBC Championships and Lexus Eastbourne Open titles, earn their first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon and come out on top in an all-British final at the National Bank Open.
As a result, the pair - who have won 50 matches so far this year - soared up the ATP rankings, with Glasspool now ranked world No.1 and Cash sitting just behind him at world No.2.
It’s been a whirlwind few months but having achieved so much in such a short period of time, has the reality of what they achieved sunk in yet?
“Probably not, honestly,” Glasspool admitted. “Losing in the first round of the US Open was a nice bit of humbling and brought us back down to earth. It feels like another year on tour, there are so many ups and downs in doubles, I’ve experienced both. It just feels like we’re having a good year, we’re confident and we’re going to keep pushing.”
“The couple of weeks we had after Wimbledon was probably the most time we’ve had off but even then we were doing so many things - it was a very short window that we actually shut off before flying out to Toronto and Cincinnati,” Cash added.
“We did well again, so the matches were flying at us pretty quick. I don’t think we’ve had too much of a chance to reflect but we’re aware we’re playing well. We feel confident and feel that a lot of teams don’t want to play us or have us in their half of the draw. Now, it’s up to us to use that the rest of the season and keep progressing.”
Looking ahead to the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Poland, the Brits could be at an advantage having an established doubles partnership in Cash and Glasspool in their team.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Captain Mariusz Fyrstenberg has selected two doubles specialists in former world No.7 Jan Zielinski and Karol Drzewiecki and have joined forces three times on the Davis Cup stage. However, with the Wimbledon champions having competed alongside each other week in, week out over the past 18 months, they believe their partnership could give the Brits a decisive edge in their bid to reach the 2026 Qualifiers.
“The fact we’re a set partnership playing together at Davis Cup is a huge benefit,” Cash said.
“For us on the tour, we spend a lot of time together which is maybe a bit unusual because for those weeks where you’re at home, you’re not with the partner so we’re very fortunate that we can make that a positive experience for us and get a lot of work done in those weeks where maybe others aren’t together and are working on their own stuff.”
Cash and Glasspool will be joined in Poland by fellow debutant Arthur Fery, as well as British No.2 Cam Norrie and British No.3 Jacob Fearnley.
Unlike previous years, all five of this year’s Lexus GB team opted to go down the American college route and competed in the NCAA before setting sail on their professional careers.
Norrie and Fearnley attended Texas Christian University, Cash attended Oklahoma State, Glasspool the University of Texas and Fery at Stanford University.
Choosing the college route to breaking through at the top level is becoming increasingly popular and can have several benefits, which has proven true in the five players set to compete for their country this week.
“I know Cam really well,” Glasspool said. “He was in college when I went to college. Jacob - I’ve been getting to know him the last couple of years he’s been on tour. I know Arthur from not juniors, but we played at the same club together in Roehampton so I’ve known him a good few years.
“You get exposed to the Tour a little bit later, but you get to experience the team atmosphere and learn a little more about life and other things outside of the court which I think is great.
Experiencing a team atmosphere (in NCAA) - everyone on the team has experienced it so I think it’ll be a really good team from that aspect this year and I’m excited to be around a lot of team players.”
Great Britain will take on Poland between Friday 12 September and Saturday 13 September. You can watch all of the action live and exclusively on Tennis Channel.
