MONTREAL, February 14, 2017

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced Tuesday that Canada will face Kazakhstan in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II playoffs. The tie will be played in Canada on April 22 and 23, 2017. The location, the choice of surface, and the composition of both teams will be announced later.

“Our young team showed a lot of good things last week. After a difficult year in 2016, we have the chance to look forward and prepare for our next challenge,” said Sylvain Bruneau, captain of the Canadian Fed Cup team. “We have the opportunity to play at home after two straight road ties and it’s up to us to take advantage of it. We have proven that we can reach the World Group and we will work hard over the next few years to get there again.”

Canada earned a spot in the World Group II playoffs after winning the Americas Zone Group I event in Metepec, Mexico last week. The Canadian team of Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (Mississauga, ON), Charlotte Robillard-Millette (Blainville, QC), Katherine Sebov (Toronto, ON), and Carol Zhao (Richmond Hill, ON) went undefeated thanks to victories over Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Chile.

Kazakhstan also went undefeated in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I event. Led by world no. 27 Yulia Putintseva, they beat Japan, Korea, and Thailand.

This will be the first meeting between Canada and Kazakhstan. Canada is currently ranked no. 16 on the Fed Cup rankings while Kazakhstan sits at no. 23.

The winner of the tie will qualify for World Group II in February 2017.

WORLD GROUP II PLAYOFF TIES

April 22-23, 2017

Chinese Taipei vs. ITALY

ROMANIA vs. Great Britain

Serbia vs. AUSTRALIA

CANADA vs. Kazakhstan