Tennis player Sandra Samir of Egypt (Photo: Courtesy of Sandra Samir Facebook page)
Egypt's women's tennis team will face Austria on Wednesday in the opener of the Fed Cup, considered the world cup of women's tennis.
Egypt is hosting the prestigious tennis event at Cairo's Gezira Club from 13 to 16 April.
The Egyptian team is the only Arab country participating in the tournament's Europe/Africa Group II. It comes in Pool B alongside Liechtenstein, Austria and Bosnia/Herzegovina.
Finland, Lithuania and Denmark are the only teams in Pool A as Slovenia announced its withdrawal earlier in March due to security concerns.
The winner of each pool will play off against the number two team in the other pool (A1 v B2 and B1 v A2) to determine which two nations will advance to Europe/Africa Zone Group I in 2017.
The nations in third place in each group will play off against each other to determine which nation will be relegated to Europe/Africa Zone Group III in 2017.
The nation finishing fourth in Pool B will be automatically relegated to Europe/Africa Zone Group III in 2017.
Egypt is represented by four players: Sandra Samir, Lamis Abdel Aziz, Dina Abo Habaga and Laila Elnimr.
The women's team is 65th in the world rankings, which are led by Czech Republic.
On the opening day, Denmark defeated Lithuania 3-0.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
Short link: