Davis Cup: Great Britain drawn against Argentina, Canada and Finland in group stage; hosts Italy face Brazil

Great Britain will face Argentina, Canada and Finland in the Davis Cup Finals group stage.

The matches will take place in Manchester this September, after the AO Arena was confirmed as one of the four host venues for the event, which will run from September 10 to September 14.

The top two teams in the group will progress to the Finals in Malaga in November.

Elsewhere, defending champions Italy will go up against Brazil, the Netherlands and Belgium on home soil in Bologna, while Zhuhai in China will host Germany, the USA, Chile and Slovakia.

In Valencia, Spain have been drawn alongside Australia, France and the Czech Republic.

There could well be some logistical problems for all the players and countries involved, as matches are due to start just days after the US Open finishes in New York.

The likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who played a pivotal role in guiding Italy to the title last year, might therefore have some big decisions to make if they have a deep run at Flushing Meadows.

Great Britain, meanwhile, will be attempting to reach the final stage of the Davis Cup for the second year running.

Leon Smith was also at the helm when they won an emotional final against Belgium in 2015.

Team GB still have a formidable bunch of highly ranked male players though, including Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper and Dan Evans, while doubles stars Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury are both Grand Slam winners.

Canada on the other hand currently only have one man, Felix Auger-Aliassime, in the singles top 100, as do Finland, in the form of Emil Ruusuvuori.

That means their toughest assignment is likely to come against Argentina, who could be led by recent Chile Open champion Sebastian Baez, 19th in the world and one of seven players inside the top 100.