ITF Press Release, September 18, 2018
The ITF has announced the nations that have secured a place in the 2019 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Qualifying Round following the completion of this weekend’s World Group play-offs. The draw for the Qualifying Round will take place at the ITF offices in London on Wednesday 26 September 2018 at 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT). The draw will be streamed live on the Davis Cup website and Davis Cup Facebook page.
The eight winners of this weekend’s World Group play-offs join the four losing quarterfinalists from the 2018 competition as seeded nations in the 2019 Qualifying Round. The Qualifying Round ties will take place on 1-2 February 2019.
The 12 seeded nations for the 2019 Qualifying Round are (current Davis Cup Nations’ Ranking in brackets):
1. Argentina (3)
2. Belgium (4)
3. Great Britain (5)
4. Serbia (8)
5. Italy (10)
6. Germany (11)
7. Kazakhstan (13)
8. Czech Republic (14)
9. Sweden (15)
10. Austria (16)
11. Canada (17)
12. Japan (18)
They will be drawn against 12 unseeded nations (six from Europe/Africa, three from Asia/Oceania and three from Americas), 10 of which have been confirmed based on their position on the Davis Cup Nations’ Ranking of Monday 17 September.
The unseeded nations for the 2019 Qualifying Round are (current Davis Cup Nations’ Ranking in brackets):
Europe/Africa
Switzerland (12)
Hungary (21)
Netherlands (22)
Russia (23)
Europe/Africa nation TBC
Europe/Africa nation TBC
Asia/Oceania
Australia (9)
India (20)
Uzbekistan (24)
Americas
Colombia (19)
Chile (25)
Brazil (27)
The two remaining nations from Europe/Africa will be confirmed after the Europe/Africa Zone Group I relegation play-offs in October: Portugal v South Africa (19-20 October) and Slovakia v Belarus (26-27 October). Two ‘Europe/Africa Nation TBC’ slots will be drawn at the draw for the Qualifying Round.
Eighteen nations will compete at the 2019 Davis Cup Finals. The four semifinalists in 2018 – Croatia, France, Spain and USA – will be joined by the 12 winners from the 2019 Qualifying Round and two wild card nations. France and Croatia will contest the 2018 Davis Cup Final on 23-25 November.
The two nations that will receive wild cards into the 2019 Finals will be announced prior to the draw. If a nation that is due to take part in the Qualifying Round is awarded a wild card, their place in the Qualifying Round taken by the next-highest ranked nation. If a seeded nation is given a wild card the next-highest ranked nation will be seeded in the Qualifying Round.
To be eligible to receive a wild card, nations must be ranked in the Top 50 on the Davis Cup Nations’ Ranking of Monday 17 September OR have at least one player ranked inside the Top 10 of the ATP World Rankings.
