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| October 19, 2001 | Friday | Shaba'an 1, 1422 |
Pakistan face Malaysia in opener
ZURICH, Oct 18: Davis Cup finalists Australia face a tough trip to Argentina in the first round of the 2002 World Group while France, their opponents in next month’s final, stage a repeat of this year’s semifinal against the Dutch.
Three of the ties in Thursday’s draw - Spain v Morocco, the United States v Slovakia and the Czech Republic v Brazil - are a step into the unknown as the countries have never met before in the competition’s 102-year history.
Croatia have met eighth seeds Germany only once, when they lost 4-1 in Germany at the same stage in 1995, while Switzerland travel to fifth seeds Russia in February knowing they have won the two ties between the two nations.
Top seeds Australia, champions 27 times, boast hard-court specialist Lleyton Hewitt, the U.S. Open champion, and will almost certainly be forced to play on clay in Argentina.
France, seeded second, beat the Netherlands 3-2 in Rotterdam in this year’s other World Group semifinal and have never lost to the Dutch in eight meetings.
Sweden, who lost 4-1 to Australia in this year’s semifinals, travel to Britain for their first clash since 1963. Britain won that tie 3-2 on grass but will be forced to play indoors in February. Sweden has won four of the six ties between them.
First round draw for regional 2002 Davis Cup groups made on Thursday (prefix number denotes seedings):
World Group, first round, Feb 8-10 Argentina v 1-Australia; 2-France v Netherlands; 3-Spain v Morocco; Britain v 4-Sweden; 5-Russia v Switzerland; 6-U.S. v Slovakia; Czech Republic v 7-Brazil; Croatia v 8-Germany
Euro/African Zone Group 1, first round, Feb 8-10 1-Belgium - bye; 2-Italy -bye; Finland - bye; 3-Belarus - bye; 4-Romania - bye; Zimbabwe v Portugal; Austria v Israel; Greece - bye
American Zone Group 1, first round, Feb 8-10 1-Chile - bye; 2-Ecuador - bye; Bahamas v Venezuela; Canada v Mexico
Asia/Oceania Zone Group 1, first round, Feb 8-10 1-India v Lebanon/Taiwan; Thailand v 2-Uzbekistan; South Korea v 3-Japan; 4-New Zealand v Indonesia
Euro/African Zone Group 2, first round, May 3-5 Ukraine v Bulgaria; Latvia v Ivory Coast; Moldova v Denmark Egypt v Norway; Yugoslavia v South Africa; Luxembourg v Hungary; Armenia v Ireland; Slovenia v Ghana
American Zone Group 2, first round, Feb 8-10 Guatamala v 1-Peru; Trinidad and Tobago v 2-Uruguay; Netherlands v Paraguay; Colombia v Cuba
Asia/Oceania Zone Group 2, first round, Feb 8-10 1-China v Kuwait; Turkmenistan v Phillipinnes; Malaysia v Pakistan; Loser of Lebanon/Taiwan v Hong Kong—Reuters
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