Australia's bid to make it third time lucky in their bid to win the Davis Cup under Lleyton Hewitt will face a challenging examination first up in the finals group stage in Valencia.
Hewitt's team have reached the final of the men's World Cup of tennis for the last two years but will have to finish in the top two in their Spanish group in September if they are to get another chance to then go for glory in the 'final eight' week to be staged in Malaga two months later.
Their group also features matches against the Czech Republic and hosts Spain, but much will rest on their opening encounter which was revealed on Thursday to be against a powerful French team that is set to include two top-20 players - left-handers Ugo Humbert and Adrian Mannarino.
