World Group playoff ties this weekend will decide which nations can compete for the Davis Cup in 2014, and which must battle through a year of relegation play to regain that honor.  With so much at stake, plenty of talented players will participate despite the event’s proximity to the US Open.  Yeshayahu Ginsburg looks at three of these ties.

Spain vs Ukraine:

Even without David Ferrer currently on the roster, Spain is still a Davis Cup powerhouse. All three potential singles players have at one point been in the top 10 and all are currently ranked higher than Ukraine’s top player. Even if Rafael Nadal chooses not to play, which would not be unexpected after winning the US Open, the Spanish team should still be favored. Marc Lopez is the best doubles player on either team as well. On paper, the advantage swings heavily towards Spain.

How did Spain end up in the play-offs, anyway? Well, in short, all of the Spanish top players bailed on their first-round Davis Cup match. Nadal, Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, and Fernando Verdasco were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Albert Ramos, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Marcel Granollers played the singles rubbers against Canada. And while that is still a fairly strong Davis Cup team in its own right, Canada’s Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil managed to play some incredible matches and pull out the upset.

This Ukrainian team is not so weak, though, and if they can find their best form they might have a chance. First of all, though, they need to hope that Rafa does not play. Alexandr Dolgopolov and Sergiy Stakhovsky are talented, granted, but neither one is beating Nadal in Madrid’s Caja Magica. If Rafa plays two singles rubbers, this tie will be very difficult. Dolgopolov is an incredible talent and can beat anyone else here, even if he is in the middle of a poor year. And Stakhovsky has already pulled off one miracle this year by upsetting Roger Federer at Wimbledon. Who would say that another does not lie ahead? Still, though, it will take a herculean effort from the Ukrainians to win if Rafa plays. If not, then we are in for quite an exciting tie.

Israel vs Belgium:

If there is such a thing as a perennial Davis Cup “Cinderella” team nowadays, it would most likely be the Israelis. Israel, led by long-time Davis Cup player Dudi Sela, burst on to the Davis Cup scene in 2009, when they upset heavily-favored Russia to reach the semifinals. Sela stunned Mikhail Youzhny in four sets to key the victory. Israel spent the next three years fighting in the World Group Play-offs, where they have always provided exciting matches and ties, such as in 2011 against Poland and Canada. Last year, they won their play-off tie against Japan as Amir Weintraub upset both Tatsuma Ito and Go Soeda to win the tie for his country.

Israel is back in the play-offs again, this time facing Belgium. As usual, Israel is a fairly heavy underdog on paper. All four Belgian players outrank Weintraub, Israel’s No. 2 player. More importantly, though, the Israelis play quite poorly on clay. Both Weintraub and Sela entered clay Challengers last week in order to get some match experience on the red dirt. Sela lost in the first round to Boy Westerhof, who has never been in the top 200. Israel can rely on its mainstay doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, though. And while Erlich and Ram are no longer the strong force on the doubles tour that they once were, they still should have a good advantage over whichever two Belgian singles players team up for the doubles rubber.

This tie is not without controversy, something that seems to follow the Israeli team around too often. Israel requested a slight change of date as the middle day of the tie was to be played on Yom Kippur, the holiest Jewish holiday of the year. The ITF and Belgium granted the request, but the European Union fined Israel’s tennis federation 10,000  Euros for the change of date. The tie will be played on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday (instead of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), but the fine was upheld.

If anything, though, that might spur the Israeli team to fight even harder than they usually do. The Israeli team somehow always plays well above their level in Davis Cup, but they will have to go even higher than that to compete against a talented team spearheaded by Olivier Rochus on a very uncomfortable surface for them.

Germany vs Brazil:

This is a third tie in which the visiting country, on paper, seems to be quite outclassed. Every single one of the German players is very strong on these fast courts. And while Thomaz Bellucci at his best (a few years back) could have definitely stood toe to toe with the likes of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer, he has not found that form in quite a while.

Still, though, this tie should have quite a bit of intrigue. The Brazilians have a massive advantage in doubles with the team of Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares. Also, Rogerio Dutra Silva achieved his career-high ranking just four short months ago. He is close to the top form of his career. Davis Cup seems to often bring out the best in these lower-ranked players. If Dutra Silva can pull out one upset, that means that the Brazilians only need Bellucci to find a way to beat one of his two German opponents. It is not likely, but also it is not an impossible task.