India, Australia face-off in Davis Cup World Group qualifier

India will face Australia in an 'away' tie in the Davis Cup World Group qualifying round, which will be played from September 20-22 September, the same dates as the World Group semi-finals.

The winning nations in the qualifying round will secure places in the 2003 World Group while the losing nations will compete in their respective Zonal Group I competitions.

India last played Australia in 1993 in the World Group semi-finals on grass in Chandigarh and lost 0-5. In all, India has faced Australia 10 times, with a 3-7 record. The last Indian triumph came in 1987 in the World Group semi-finals on grass in Sydney. India, led by Ramesh Krishnan, won the tie 3-2. Ramesh won both his singles while Vijay Amritraj defeated Wally Masur in the first singles and lost to John Fitzgerald in the reverse singles.

India, led by a brilliant display by Leander Paes, made it to the World Group qualifiers after beating New Zealand in Wellington 4-1 in the Asian-Oceania Group I play-off match last week. Last September, they had lost to the United States at the same stage.

A Lleyton Hewitt-less Australian team went down 0-5 to Argentina in a first round Davis Cup match in February and thus have to play the qualifying tie in September to stay in the World Group next year.

The 2002 World Group qualifying round pairings, announced by the International Tennis Federation, on Wednesday:

Australia (2) vs India (16) in Australia.
Zimbabwe (21) vs Belgium (13) in Zimbabwe.
Brazil (9) vs Canada (23) in Brazil.
Germany (12) vs Venezuela (24) in Germany.
Great Britain (18) vs Thailand (26) in Great Britain.
Finland (27) vs Netherlands (8) in Finland.
Slovak Republic (14) vs Romania (20) in Slovak Republic.
Morocco (25) vs Switzerland (17) in Morocco.