The draw for the Davis Cup 2014 was held by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in London on September 18. Vietnam will face Pakistan at home, in the first round from January 31 to February 2.

Vietnam has the advantage of playing at home but it is not allowed to choose the playing ground like other home teams. In addition to Vietnam - Pakistan, the three other pairs in Group II are Sri Lanka - the Philippines, Thailand - Hong Kong and Kuwait - Indonesia.

This can be considered as favorable draw for Vietnam because of the four seeds in Group II Asia, Pakistan is at the lowest rank.

The ITF has announced the four seeds of this group based on the cumulative results of the past years: the first is the Philippines (45th in the world), followed by Indonesia (46th), Thailand (48th) and Pakistan (54th). Vietnam gains three spots, from 75th to 72nd but it is still the lowest ranked teams in the eight teams in Group II Asia.

ITF also announced the draw for the World Group 2014, including the knockout pairs: Czech Republic - Netherlands, Japan - Canada, Germany - Spain, France - Australia, USA - England, Argentina - Italy, Kazakhstan - Belgium, Serbia - Switzerland.

Davis Cup is the world men's team tournament. It is divided into several levels. Asia and Oceania are in the same group and divided into 4 groups. Vietnam played in Group IV before playing in Group III in the last 3 seasons. This year, Vietnam plays in the Group II for the first time, with eight teams. The teams will compete in knockout form to select two teams to Group I and two teams to Group III next year.

Nguyen Nam