Last night, the matches for the World Group and World Group II Play-offs were drawn in London. All of these matches will be played on the weekend of April 16-17, a week before the WTA tournament in Stuttgart.
World Group Play-Offs
We will see a clash of two nations from the former USSR, Belarus and Russia. With Sharapova most probably not playing, this tie could turn out really interesting and dramatic. With the tie being played in Russia, and a big tournament played in Stuttgart the week after, we can expect some players not to play. If Azarenka does play, she will be expected to win her both matches, the Russian No. 1 should beat either Govortsova or Sasnovich. I expect this tie to come down to the final doubles. Russians were upset by Netherlands in the first round, the team without a single player in Top 100. Belarus played Canada without Azarenka or Bouchard. With Govortsova’s poor play, it was Sasnovich who came through and won all three of her matches.
The second really well matched tie is going to be played between Italy and Spain. The main two things to watch out for in this tie will be nominations as always and the choice of surface. All the top players from both countries have now fulfilled their Olympic requirements, so the federations can’t hold this over them. Since the tie is played in Spain, the obvious choice for the surface is clay, Spain maybe should try putting the tie on hard, since Muguruza is better on hard than Vinci, and Suarez Navarro is a better hard-courter than Errani. However with the clay season starting after that week, they most probably will put the tie on clay. Spain started their Fed Cup season well, with an easy win over Serbia without Ivanovic. On the other hand Italy didn’t start well, getting beat 4-1 by France. If both teams come with full strength teams, I expect Spain to win.
Another tie most probably played on clay will be the match between Romania and Germany. This tie should include a 
match between two Top 5 players, Angelique Kerber and Simona Halep. Also Monica Niculescu showed a lot of Fed Cup spirit in Romania’s last tie against Czech Republic, when she managed to beat Kvitova in straight sets. Germany also had a rough first round, when they had to face Switzerland. Both teams lost their ties in the deciding doubles, when they weren’t able to field their best doubles teams. I have absolutely no predictions for this match. It will be very dependent on the nominations and the form of the nominated players.
While all other ties in the World Group are played in Europe, this one will be played down under, where Australia will host USA. Australia received great news when Ashleigh Barty announced her comeback, completing the Australian Fed Cup team more. Flying to Australia will definitely not be ideal for American players, since Charleston is played the week before. I most definitely expect the USA to come in with a weakend team, however Madison Keys has to play this tie, if she wants to play the Olympics. That said, I still expect the US to be the favorite in this tie, even if Keys ends up being their team No. 1.
World Group II Play-Offs
The only purely European tie in the WG II Play-Offs will be played in Serbia. The Serbians will face Belgium, who finally got out of the regional groups and did not get an easy draw whatsoever. However, I give the Belgian ladies a chance if one of the Ivanovic/Jankovic duo doesn’t show up. With Belgians having a strong singles duo of Van Uytvanck and Wickmayer, completed by experienced Kirsten Flipkens and the strong doubles players An-Sophie Mestach and Ysaline Bonaventure, they can really do some damage to the Serbians who do have the two former No. 1 players, Jankovic and Ivanovic. However they haven’t always been playing Fed Cup when they didn’t have to, and now that they both fulfilled their requirements for Rio, the odds of both of them playing are getting slimmer. Belgium was really impressive in the Regional Group I, not losing a single rubber, having the win/loss record of 11 to 0. Overall, I don’t see both of Serbians playing and I think Belgians will get up for this tie. However, I always can be wrong.
A rematch from 2 years ago between Canada and Slovakia will be happening this April. This is one of the matches which is the most dependent of the nominations. Canada definitely lacks depth in their singles, with Eugenie Bouchard being their only player in the Top 300. If Genie Bouchard does decide to play, Slovakia will have to field their strongest team, and most probably the tie will come down to the doubles, the nightmare of the Slovak Fed Cup team. What Slovakia could do, is to put the tie on clay, the weakest surface of Genie Bouchard, and the strongest surface of Schmiedlova and Cibulkova. Overall, I predict Slovakia to get a much stronger team, since they will play in front of their home crowd this time. I see Slovakia as a favorite in this tie.
The next tie has a clear favorite, with Poland who got beat in the US, when they had to put together a team without the 
Radwanska sisters. However I expect the Radwanska sisters to play on their home soil against Taipei, who managed to get out of the Regional Group I, beating China, Japan and Kazakhstan along the way. Poland has to end the tie before it comes down to the doubles, so they need Agnieszka to win both her matches, and the No. 2, be it Urszula Radwanska or Magda Linette to win at least one match. The doubles is definitely Taipei’s strongest side, with the Chan sisters being one of the top doubles teams in the world. I definitely see Poland winning this tie if they got Agnieszka Radwanska on board. If not, then it will be definitely interesting to watch and there will be no clear favorite.
Ukraine is a heavy favorite in their next tie against Argentina. Ukraine will be playing at home, most probably at indoor hard court, which will be rough for the Argentina team. Another factor in favor of Ukraine is the ranking position of the players, with Ukraine having 3 players in Top 100, and Argentina not having a single one. Ukraine is the big favorite and I think they will get through to the World Group II in 2017.
