Australia, Britain seeded for
Davis Cup qualifiers

Australia and Britain will not face each other in the Davis Cup World Group qualifying round when the draw is made on Wednesday after the nations were named as seeds by the International Tennis Federation.

Australia, with 27 Davis Cup titles, and Britain, with nine, were joined by Belgium, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, the Slovak Republic and Switzerland as seeded nations for the play-off ties to decide who competes in the top flight next year.

They will be drawn against Canada, Finland, India, Morocco, Romania, Thailand, Venezuela and Zimbabwe at Wednesday's draw in London.

The criteria for seeding, used by the Davis Cup Committee, includes the current ITF Davis Cup Nations Ranking as well as consideration for the rankings of players likely to participate, experience on different surfaces and experience in doubles.

The qualifying round will be played from September 20-22, the same week as the World Group semifinals.

The qualifiers will secure a place in the 2003 World Group while the losing nations will compete in Zonal Group I competitions.