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Great Britain have been drawn away to Colombia in the qualifying round of the 2023 Davis Cup.
Britain had a wildcard into this year’s Finals but will have to win February’s tie in South America to qualify for next September’s group stage.
The tie will take place the week after the Australian Open.
Britain have far greater strength in depth in singles, with Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Jack Draper and Andy Murray all in the top 50.
Colombia’s highest ranked singles player is the world number 69 Daniel Elahi Galan, and their number two player is likely to be the world number 300 Nicolas Mejia.
But the Colombians do have the former world number one doubles pair of Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Cabal, who won both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2019.
The best-of-five match series will be played on a surface of Colombia’s choosing, and it will be a challenging journey for anyone involved in the latter stages of the Australian Open, which runs from 16-29 January.
Colombia is 16 hours behind Melbourne, with the tie likely to start on Friday, 3 February.
The LTA will be in the second of a five year deal to host one of the four groups contested in September – but that is dependent on Britain successfully qualifying.
Glasgow’s Emirates Arena hosted the group stage in September, but Britain failed to qualify for this week’s knockout stage after finishing third behind the Netherlands and the United States.
Australia face Canada in the 2022 Final in Malaga on Sunday.
Both finalists qualify automatically for next year’s Finals, along with Italy and Spain who have been awarded wildcards.
The other 12 places in the Finals will be determined by February’s qualifiers, with the tie between Serbia and Norway potentially pitting Novak Djokovic against the world number three Casper Ruud.
By Russell Fuller
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