Great Britain have been drawn away to Australia in the qualifying round for this year’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
The tie will take place 10-11 April.
At last year’s tournament Britain were beaten 2-0 in the semi-finals by the USA, who start their campaign with an away tie against Belgium.
Britain are seeded third and the USA second.
Champions Italy, who beat the USA 2-0 in the final to defend their title, are top seeds and will host Japan.
The qualifying round features 14 teams, with each of the seven ties consisting of two singles matches on day one, and a doubles match and two reverse singles matches on day two.
The seven winners and hosts China will compete in the Finals in Shenzhen in the week beginning 21 September.
GB captain Anne Keothavong may face a tough task persuading the top British players to travel to Australia for the qualifier when the WTA Tour is based in Europe.
BJK Cup qualifying draw
Italy (1) v Japan
Belgium v USA (2)
Australia v Great Britain (3)
Kazakhstan v Canada (4)
Slovenia v Spain (5)
Switzerland v Czech Republic (6)
Ukraine v Poland (7)
*Seeds in brackets
