A near-upset in Fed Cup turned into a 3-2 defeat, now Canada must try to avoid minor-league relegation

Even without top player Victoria Azarenka, who was enjoying the Super Bowl festivities in California as her team fought to stay alive against Canada Sunday afternoon in Quebec City, Belarus was the favourite to win the World Group II first-round tie.

But after 19-year-old Françoise Abanda gave Canada a 2-1 lead with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over world No. 74 Olga Govortsova Sunday, and the team needed just one more match win with the No. 2 singles players left to square off, then the doubles, the Canadians had hope.

Unfortunately, 27-year-old Aleksandra Wozniak, the author of an impressive win over Govortsova the previous day, couldn't keep it going against 21-year-old Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Sasnovich, who ended up being the heroine on the weekend, defeated Wozniak 6-4, 6-4 and then combined with Govortsova to defeat Gabriela Dabrowski and Fed Cup rookie Carol Zhao 6-2, 6-4.

Sasnovich and Govortsova were teaming up for the first time, but each had two matches on the court already; Dabrowski and Zhao, who won the Pan Am Games gold medal last summer in Toronto against inferior competition, were by far the two best doubles players of the four players nominated, but in the end didn't gel quickly enough to make a match of it.

What that means is that the Canadian team must now reunite the weekend of April 16-17 for a World Group II playoff tie. If they win it, they can remain in World Group II in 2017. If they lose it, they will be relegated down to the Americas zone, the minor-leagues from which they hoped they had escaped for good.

The zonal competition involves a week of best-of-three matches against other teams – all of them from South America, with the U.S. up at the World Group level. And that usually means slogging through the red clay all week long. They would have to win the week, and then win another tie just to get back to World Group II.

It's a fate they would much rather avoid, but the draw will offer a better indicator of their chances. The draw will be made in London at the International Tennis Federation offices Tuesday.

The seeds were drawn in London Monday morning. Canada is seeded No. 2; the opponent will be either Belgium, Chinese Taipei, Slovakia or Ukraine.

If the Canadians draw Slovakia, they will play away, because they hosted them in Canada in 2014. If they draw Belgium or Ukraine, the reverse is true; they would host. If it's Chinese Taipei, the choice of ground will be drawn by lot on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Belarus will move on into a playoff tie to try to earn a promotion into the trop group of eight nations, World Group I. And it's likely Azarenka, who skipped this one despite being on the original nomination list, will have to play; she needs the tie to complete the eligibility requirements for the Summer Olympics in Rio.

For Canada, it will be the same-old, same-old; will Eugenie Bouchard answer the call?

Without its top player in Quebec City, the close-knit Canadian squad nearly pulled off an admirable upset. The next tie will pose an equal or greater challenge, as some of the potential opponents have even higher-ranked players to oppose them.