Davis Cup draw released

India has been top seeded in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I draw for the Davis Cup 2002 competition. They will face Lebanon or Chinese Taipei in the first round, which will be held from February 8 to 10, 2002, and the choice of venue will be decided by lots later.

The complete draw for the 2002 Davis Cup competition was held on Thursday at the Widder Saal, Zurich, Switzerland.

The 2002 event will be the first of the competition to take place, with the new title sponsorship of BNP Paribas, who take over from NEC as title sponsor of the Davis Cup from the next year.

If India wins in the first round, they will face the winner of the other first round match between New Zealand and Indonesia in the second round, which will be held from April 5 to 7, 2002. The venue will be decided by lots at a later stage.

The winner of the second round match will be promoted to the World Group qualifying round.

In the upper half of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I draw, second seed Uzbekistan will face Thailand, while third seeds Japan will face Korea in the first round. The winners of the first round matches will face each other in the second round to decide the second team which will get promoted to World Group qualifying round.

In the World group, the United States, who are back in the group after defeating India in the play-off, will face the Slovak Republic in the first round. In the other first round matches, France will face the Netherlands; Australia will face Argentina; Croatia will face Germany; Great Britain will face Sweden; Switzerland will face Russia; Spain will face Morocco and Brazil will face the Czech Republic.

In the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II first round matches, China will face Kuwait; Kazakhstan will face the Philippines; Pakistan will face Malaysia and China Hong Kong will face Lebanon or Chinese Taipei. The winner of this group will be promoted to the Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1.

In the Euro/African Zone Group I second round matches, Italy will face Finland; Greece will face Belgium; Belarus will face the winner of the first round match between Portugal and Zimbabwe and Romania will face the winner of the first round match between Austria and Israel.

Four winners from this group will be promoted to the World Group qualifying round.

In the Euro/African Zone Group II first round matches, Ukraine will face Bulgaria; Latvia will face Cote d'Ivoire; Denmark will face Moldova; Egypt will face Norway; Yugoslavia will face South Africa; Hungary will face Luxembourg; Armenia will face Ireland and Ghana will face Slovenia. Two winners from this group will be promoted to the Euro/African Zone Group 1.

In the American Zone Group I second round matches, Ecuador will face winner of the first round match between Venezuela and Bahamas, while Chile will face winner of the first round match between Canada and Mexico. Two winners from this group will be promoted to the World Group qualifying round.

In the American Zone Group II first round matches, Peru will face Guatemala; Neth. Antilles will face Paraguay; Cuba will face Colombia and Trinidad & Tobago will face Uruguay. The winner of this group will be promoted to the American Zone Group 1.

The ITF’s Davis Cup committee on Wednesday, announced the seedings for the 2002 Davis Cup. Criteria for selection included previous performance in the competition, the rankings of players likely to participate, experience on different surfaces, experience in doubles and other pertinent criteria.

World Group - 16 Nations/8 Seeds
1 - Australia
2 - France
3 - Spain
4 - Sweden
5 - Russia
6 - USA
7 - Brazil
8 - Germany

Euro/African Zone Group I - 10 Nations/4 Seeds
1 - Belgium
2 - Italy
3 - Belarus
4 - Romania

American Zone Group I - 6 Nations/2 Seeds
1 - Chile
2 - Ecuador

Asia/Oceania Zone Group I - 9 Nations/4 Seeds
1 - India
2 - Uzbekistan
3 - Japan
4 - New Zealand