Here are the teams that could potentially be in Euro-Africa Zone Group I next year and their ranking points as of today. Those in the playoffs can add points, obviously, but if they do, they won't be in Group I next year.
Those that have won playoffs or SFs in the last 4 years (or played in Group II in years when that was played in April or May instead of February) will lose points when those wins get deweighted, so such wins are noted below. The points to drop do not take into account bonuses for beating highly-ranked teams, hence the "+":
SRB 5852.50 (at home to Paraguay in WG II PO) - won WG I PO in 2011 & WG I SF in 2012 (2000+ points to drop)
SVK 3565.00 (at home to Sweden in WG II PO) - won WG I PO in 2012 (500+ points to drop)
ESP 2950.00 (at home to Argentina in WG II PO) - won WG I PO in 2011, 2013 & 2014 (1500+ points to drop)
SWE 2737.50 (away to Slovakia in WG II PO) - won WG II PO in 2012 & 2014 (500+ points to drop)
BLR 2440.00 (away to Japan in WG II PO) - won WG II PO in 2011 (250+ points to drop)
UKR 1897.50 - won WG I PO in 2011 (500+ points to drop), so will definitely end up below us
GBR 1845.00
CRO 1730.00
HUN 1700.00
TUR 1488.75 - some Group II points from 2011 & 2012 to drop
GEO 1360.00 - some Group II points from 2011, 2012 & 2014 to drop
POR 1120.00 - some Group II points from 2011 to drop
BEL 1095.00
RSA 1038.75 (promoted from Group II) - some Group III points from 2011 & Group II points from 2012, 2013 & 2014 to drop
ISR 1027.50
BUL 915.00
LAT 708.50 - some Group II points from 2012 & 2013 to drop
EST 548.50 (promoted from Group II)
So, the only teams that could be in Group I and seeded ahead of us would be any European teams who lose World Group 2 playoff ties, apart from Spain, who would drop behind us if they lost in April.
i.e. If at least one of SRB, SVK, SWE & BLR wins in April, we should be seeded in the top 4 next year and if at least 3 of those teams win, we should be seeded in the top 2.
-- Edited by steven on Tuesday 10th of February 2015 10:25:23 AM
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
The more European teams that don't come back down the better. Hopefully by the point that the World Group is 14 European teams, plus Australia and USA, the ITF will realize that the entire system needs an overhaul.
Edited the first post to include details of actual World Group II playoff ties now that the draw has been made.
I think SVK and SWE drawing each other means GB will be seeded between 2 and 4 for Group I next year - 2 if Serbia win at home to Paraguay and Belarus win in Japan (both of which are distinctly possible), 3 if just one of them wins, 4 if they both lose.
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!