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Next up: Canada's women to face Kazakhstan in Fed Cup tennis action

Canada to face Kazakhstan in Fed Cup

MONTREAL — Canada will host Kazakhstan in the next round of the Fed Cup women's tennis competition.

The World Group II playoff tie is set for April 22-23, the International Tennis Federation said Tuesday. Canada is coming off a victory at the Americas Zone Group I event last week in Metepec, Mexico.

"Our young team showed a lot of good things last week," Canadian Fed Cup team captain Sylvain Bruneau said in a statement. "After a difficult year in 2016, we have the chance to look forward and prepare for our next challenge.

"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."

Last week, Bianca Vanessa Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., Charlotte Robillard-Millette of Blainville, Que., Toronto's Katherine Sebov, and Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ont., went undefeated with victories over Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Chile.

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

This will be the first meeting between 16th-ranked Canada and No. 23 Kazakhstan. The winner qualifies for World Group II in February 2018.

At No. 293, Andreescu was the highest-ranked Canadian to play in last week's event.

There are three Canadian players ahead of her in the latest rankings. They include Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., (No. 44), Montreal's Francoise Abanda (No. 171) and Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., (No. 269).

Bruneau said he may tinker with the lineup for the Kazakhstan tie depending on player availability.

"I'm definitely going to try to come up with the best team, the best possible players that could help us (get to) World Group II for 2018 for sure," Bruneau said on a conference call. "So it's not set in stone that we're going to keep the same team. There could be some changes."    

The location, choice of surface, and team members will be announced at a later date.

 

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had an incorrect year for the World Group II round.