Britain face Poland in Davis Cup relegation play-off

Great Britain have been handed an away tie against Poland as they look to avoid relegation from the top tier of the Davis Cup.

Leon Smith’s side, seeded fourth in the draw, face the unseeded Poles in a World Group I best-of-five tie in September.

The winners will progress to the first qualifying phase of the 2026 event and maintain their chances of reaching the eight-team finals later that year.

Poland are likely to be led by 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist Hubert Hurkacz, who is currently their only player ranked inside the men’s top 100.

Britain face the play-off tie after losing to Japan in this year’s first qualifying phase.

Without injured US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper, a makeshift British side were beaten 3-2 – jeopardising their place in the top tier of the men’s team event.

The first qualifying round tie descended into chaos when Chile’s Cristian Garin was knocked over by his celebrating Belgian opponent Zizou Bergs.

The Chilean Tennis Federation (Fetech) claimed Garin had been “attacked”.

Tennis Belgium insisted Bergs was careless with “no malicious intent whatsoever”.

The South American nation were awarded neither during a preliminary hearing last week with an independent panel convened by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

However, the case is still ongoing. Fetech said it has not withdrawn their claim, which also called for Bergs to be punished.

Chile had initially also asked for the World Cup I draw to be postponed until a resolution was found.

But Fetech withdrew that demand after the meeting on 27 February, saying it did not want to harm the “interests of the other countries”.