LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: The draw for 2013 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group and World Group II play-offs was held at the ITF offices in London on Wednesday 13 February.
Serbia, the highest-ranked of all the World Group play-off participants and last year’s runners-up, will bid to avoid the drop with a testing away trip to Germany while Australia will also look to preserve their World Group status when they host Switzerland, who stunned favourites Belgium 4-1 in the World Group II first round.
Japan, who suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to Russia in the World Group first round travel to five-time champions Spain, with the hosts seeking a return to the top tier of the competition in 2014. USA also lost out 3-2 in an absorbing first round tie, losing to three-time Fed Cup winners Italy, and Mary Joe Fernandez's team will aim for a swift recovery at home to Sweden as they aim to earn another go at the World Group next year.
In the World Group II play-offs, Great Britain missed out on a much-desired home tie and face an away trip to Argentina as they bid to contest the second tier of the competition next year. The four-time runners-up might be content to have avoided unseeded Poland, who face a challenging trip to surprise World Group II first round losers Belgium.
Amelie Mauresmo's France will host Kazakhstan as they look to consolidate their place in World Group II, while Ukraine welcomes 1988 World Group semifinalists Canada who emerged from Americas Zone Group I for the loss of just one rubber, in the promotional play-off against Brazil.
The 2013 World Group and World Group II play-offs will take place alongside the World Group semifinals on 20-21 April. In the semifinals, Russia will be at home to Slovak Republic and Italy will be at home to Czech Republic.
WORLD GROUP PLAY-OFFS
Germany (c) (*)
v
Serbia (s)
Australia (s) (c)
v
Switzerland
Spain (c) (*)
v
Japan (s)
USA (s) (c) (*)
v
Sweden
WORLD GROUP II PLAY-OFFS
Belgium (s) (c)
v
Poland
France (s) (c) (*)
v
Kazakhstan
Argentina (c) (*)
v
Great Britain (s)
Ukraine (s) (c) (*)
v
Canada
Key
(s) = seeded nation
(c) = choice of ground
(*) = choice of ground decided by lot