Press releases

MINSK, 9 February (BelTA) – On 9 February London played host to the 2016 Federation Cup World Group playoff. Belarus will face Russia on 16-17 April, BelTA informs.

In the previous years the Belarusian and Russian players met three times on court. Belarusians celebrated the victory twice (1995, 1996). Russians were victorious in 1997. All the matches took place at the various stages of the Federation Cup Euro/Africa Group I.

The Belarusian tennis players have recently come home from Quebec where they beat Canada 3-2 in the Fed Cup World Group II. The victory brought Belarus up to the 12^th position in the ITF Fed Cup Nations Ranking. Russians suffered a home defeat to the Netherlands 1-3 in the Fed Cup World Group first round and are currently ranked 2^nd in the world.

The other Federation Cup World Group playoff pairs are:

Spain vs. Italy,

Romania vs. Germany

Australia vs. the USA

The winners will get promotion into the World Group for 2017. The losers will stay in the World Group II.

The 2016 World Group and World Group II playoffs will take place alongside the World Group semifinals on 16-17 April. In the semifinals, Switzerland will host the Czech Republic, and France will take on the Netherlands. The winners of the semifinals will compete for the main trophy of the competitions on 12-13 November. Last year the Fed Cup was won by the Czech Republic that beat Russia in the final 3-2. The Czech Republic also won the Fed Cup in 2011, 2012, 2014.