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U.S. Fed Cup team to host France with World Group spot at stake
Alison Riske and the U.S. fell to Italy in the World Group first round. (Tony Dejak/AP)
The Americans will try to regain their place in the Fed Cup World Group when they play France at home in April, the ITF announced on Tuesday.
The United States lost to Italy 3-1 in the first round of World Group play last weekend in Cleveland, where captain Mary Joe Fernandez fielded a young team of Madison Keys, Alison Riske, Christina McHale and Lauren Davis. Meanwhile, France, which featured Alize Cornet and Kristina Mladenovic, defeated Switzerland 3-2 in World Group II to earn a shot at promotion to the top-flight World Group next year. The host city has yet to be determined.
In other notable ties finalized Tuesday, Eugenie Bouchard-led Canada will host the Slovak Republic, which should include Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova and Daniela Hantuchova. Canada is looking to earn promotion to the World Group for the first time since 1994. No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the highest-ranked player consistently committed to the competition, will head to Spain for a tie that will likely be held on clay, her worst surface. Poland hasn't made the eight-team World Group since 1994.
The promotion/relegation format pits the World Group countries that lost their first-round tie against the World Group II countries that won their first-round tie. The winner goes into the World Group next season -- joining 2014 semifinalists Australia, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy -- and the loser is relegated to the second-tier group and must play its way back into the first tier alongside winners from the World Group II playoffs. The Americans were relegated to World Group II in 2012 but returned to the World Group with wins over Belarus and Ukraine.
The playoffs take place on April 19-20. Here is the full draw:
World Group playoffs
Argentina at Russia
Slovak Republic at Canada
France at United States
Poland at Spain
World Group II playoffs
Serbia at Romania
Japan at Netherlands
Thailand at Sweden
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Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.