National team will host Peru at Ramat Hasharon in the World Group playoffs over the weekend of September 19-21.
By ALLON SINAIdavis cup 298.88(photo credit: Asaf Kliger)
Israel's chances of returning to the Davis Cup World Group next year received a significant boost on Wednesday after the team was handed a comfortable draw in the playoffs.
Israel, which lost 3-2 to Sweden in the first round of the competition earlier this year, will host Peru at Ramat Hasharon in the World Group playoffs over the weekend of September 19-21.
Peru's top player is Luis Horna, who is ranked No. 106 in the world. The team's No. 2 player is Ivan Miranda (194), with the Peruvians third best player, Matias Silva, only ranked No. 655 in the world.
Peru made its first ever appearance in the World Group this year and lost 5-0 to Spain in the first round.
"I think this is the best draw we could have gotten," Israel's No. 1 Dudi Sela said. "Peru is, however, a good and strong team and we will have to be in good form to beat them."
Meanwhile, Switzerland will host Belgium in the World Group playoffs in September.
The Swiss team, which missed out on this season's World Group despite using top-ranked Roger Federer in last year's playoffs, will get a chance to return to the top tier when it plays the Belgians from September 19-21, the International Tennis Federation said Wednesday.
The other pairings from Wednesday's draw were: Chile vs. Australia; Britain vs. Austria; Croatia vs. Brazil; Israel vs. Peru; Netherlands vs. South Korea; Romania vs. India; and Slovakia vs. Serbia.
Federer has skipped most of his country's Davis Cup series, but he usually comes back to help the team if it needs to win to get into the World Group or avoid relegation to the zonal group.
Last year against the Czech Republic, Federer won two singles matches but the Swiss still lost 3-2.
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