With the first round of the 2016 Fed Cup finished, attention immediately turns to the next stage of the competition. That includes the World Group playoffs, which will see which teams get demoted and who moves up the ladder in the Fed Cup competition.
The Fed Cup organization has released the seeds for the World Group I and II playoffs which will take place in April. A draw will follow soon to determine who will do battle.
World Group I Playoffs
Teams contesting the World Group I playoffs are looking to book their place in the top division for the 2017 competition. Three of the four teams defeated in the World Group I first round this past weekend are seeded. Russia is the number one seed. The Russians, boasting a strong line-up, were stunned by the Netherlands. They are followed by second seed Italy who fell to France. Germany will be seeded third after losing a tight tie 3-2 to Switzerland.
The fourth seed will be Australia. They are the lone seeded team advancing out of the World Group II. Australia defeated Slovakia 3-2 on the weekend. Romania will be unseeded after losing their World Group I tie to the Czech Republic.
The four seeded teams will each face an unseeded team. Which team they will face will be decided by a draw. The teams who will be drawn to play seeds are Romania, Belarus, Spain, and the United States. The latter three teams all won their World Group II ties and are seeking promotion to the top group.
World Group II Playoffs
There is arguably more on the line for the teams in the World Group II playoffs as the losers will be forced to contest their regional groups next year. Like World Group I, three of the four teams who lost their World Group II ties will be seeded for the playoffs. Serbia, who was swept by Spain, will be the top seed. Canada will be seeded second. The Canadians lost a nail biter 3-2 on home soil to Belarus. Poland, who lost to the United States, will be seeded third.
Slovakia is the lone team who lost in the World Group II that will not be seeded for the playoffs. Instead, Argentina grabs that honor. Argentina was undefeated in the Americas Group I and will be seeded fourth.
The draw for the World Group II playoffs will pit those four seeds against Slovakia and the other regional winners Chinese Taipei (Asia/Oceania) and Ukraine and Belgium (Europe/Africa). The World Group Playoffs will take place in April.