Isle of Man tennis player Billy Harris served up one of the best Davis Cup debuts on Wednesday afternoon. 

That’s according to Britain captain Leon Smith after Harris secured victory for GB against Finland at the AO Arena in Manchester. 

The 29-year-old, who played for Castletown and Albany as a youngster, defeated Otto Virtanen 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in straight sets which gave the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead. 

‘I'm absolutely thrilled for Billy – I think that's one of the best debuts you'll have seen. It was that good,’ said Smith. ‘If you look at Otto's record over the past couple of years in the Davis Cup, it's pretty flawless. 

‘Billy actually could have won in a more straightforward manner – he was absolutely immense. Nothing really kind of fazes him, even though he's not really been on a big court before.’ 

Albany stalwart Pat Sharp was full of praise for Harris: ‘Early Wednesday morning I received the news from Billy’s parents that he would be playing that day versus Finland.  

‘My first thought was “He deserves this chance – he has worked so hard for so long. He’s earned it”  

‘My second reaction was: “This is a first for Manx tennis, for Castletown TC where he started to learn tennis, for Albany where he worked hard with coach Ian Watson for several years, and his sponsors in those early years like Stuart Colligon.  

‘His return to the island recently and the time on court with our juniors was typical of Billy and his family – they wish to give back something to those who set him on this richly-deserved journey.  

‘We watched his match v Otto Virtanen (Finland) on BBC iPlayer and he didn’t let anyone down, winning the first set 6/4 with some good strong serving.  

‘He started the second set well then a nervy patch brought the Finn back into the match, but Billy gained composure and won the set on a 7/4 tiebreak.  

‘Great Britain has found a new star and given the chance, because of [US Open semi-finalist] Jack Draper not being fully fit, Billy did us proud.’

Great Britain will go up against their counterparts from Argentina in group D on Friday.