New Zealand drawn away to Finland in Davis Cup
New Zealand has been drawn against Finland away in the next round of the Davis Cup in September.
Kelly Evernden’s team upset Uruguay in their World Group 1 playoff tie last month in Las Vegas.
The International Tennis Federation held the draw overnight for World Group 1 feature the 12 losers from last month’s Qualifiers and 12 winners from the Playoffs.
Finland’s top player is world number 71 Emil Ruusuvuori but their next player is ranked outside the top 400, Otto Virtanen (412).
On paper it is a similar situation to the tie against Uruguay in Las Vegas where the South American’s boasted one world class singles player in Pablo Cuevas. Rubin Statham’s shock win over the former top 20 ATP star secured New Zealand a 3-1 win.
The winner of the World Group one tie to be played either on the 16th and 17th or 17th and 18th of September will advance to the 2023 Davis Cup qualifiers and a chance to compete at the Davis Cup World Group Finals later next year.
The loser will face a winning team from the World Group 2 ties in the Playoffs.
World Group I Draw
Austria (1) (c)* v Pakistan
Colombia (2) (c)* v Turkey
Israel (c) v Czech Republic (3)
Uzbekistan (c) v Japan (4)
Ecuador (5) (c) v Switzerland
Peru (c) v Chile (6)
Portugal (c)* v Brazil (7)
Norway (c)* v India (8)
Ukraine (c) v Hungary (9) – see note 1
Slovakia (10) (c) v Romania
Finland (11) (c)* v New Zealand
Bosnia and Herzegovina (12) (c)* v Mexico