This sequel to Wednesday's article offers a look by another columnist at three more of the World Group playoff ties in Davis Cup this weekend.

Great Britain vs. Croatia

Venue- Stadion Stella Maris, Umag, Croatia

Surface- Clay (Red Clay), Outdoor

Although the British are not known for their clay prowess, they should fancy their chances at obtaining a spot in the 2014 Davis Cup World Group when they face the Ivan Dodig-led Croatian team this weekend.

The British squad will be led by world No. 3 Andy Murray. This will be Murray’s first Davis Cup tie since 2011, when Great Britain faced Hungary. Other members of the British team include James Ward, doubles specialist Colin Fleming, and the man who broke through at the US Open this year, Daniel Evans.

The Croatians will be sorely missing their highest-ranked player, Marin Cilic, whose playing status and whereabouts have been in limbo since Wimbledon. Ivan Dodig, ranked 35th in the ATP rankings, is the most notable player on the Croatian team. By contrast, singles No. 2 Antonio Veic is ranked No. 205. Interestingly enough, the fourth member of the Croatian team, Borna Coric, just won the US Open Boys’ Singles title last week. His reward could be a match against last year’s US Open Men’s Singles champion.

Great Britain won the only prior meeting between these two in 2007 when they took out the Croats 4-1 in the World Group Playoff.  It would come as a great surprise if a Croat who is not Dodig is able to win a rubber in this tie.

Prediction: Great Britain 4-1

Switzerland vs. Ecuador

Venue- Patinore du Littoral, Neuchatel, Switzerland

Surface- Hard (Rebound Ace), Indoor

Three of the four US Open semifinalists are making quick recoveries following the final major of 2013. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Stanislas Wawrinka are all in Davis Cup action this weekend. Djokovic is seeking to propel Serbia to the Davis Cup final against Canada, while Nadal and Wawrinka are merely looking to keep their respective nations in the World Group.

Wawrinka and the rest of the Swiss team will be going to work this weekend against an unimpressive Ecuadorian squad whose top player, Julio-Cesar Campozano, is ranked No. 295 and whose only wins this year came in Davis Cup against teenager Christian Garin and 155th-ranked Paul Capdeville of Chile.

Wawrinka will be without the services of Roger Federer but is joined by Marco Chiudinelli, Henri Laaksonen and Michael Lammer. The Swiss team will be looking to get back into the World Group, from which they were narrowly eliminated in February by the defending Davis Cup champions, the Czech Republic. With Wawrinka and Federer moving toward the latter stages of their career, Swiss fans surely must feel that it is starting to be a now-or-never situation.

Switzerland and Ecuador have never squared off in Davis Cup action prior to this meeting.

Prediction: Switzerland 5-0

Australia vs. Poland

Venue- Torwar Hall, Warsaw, Poland

Surface- Indoor Red Clay

The US Open was extremely unpleasant for four out of the five men in this tie who competed in the singles competition. Only one man, the everlasting Lleyton Hewitt, advanced past the second round.

Jerzy Janowicz, Lukas Kubot, and Marinko Matosevic all saw the exit doors in the first round. Janowicz’s performance was particularly disturbing as he lost to Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina, who had won only two ATP hard-court matches in his career. Not to discredit Gonzalez’s performance, which was solid and professional, but Janowicz looked entirely out of sorts and was dealing with a back injury.

Bernard Tomic’s summer has not been anything to celebrate either. The Aussie lost in the first round of Montreal, in the qualifying of Cincinnati to Robby Ginepri in 45 minutes, and in the second round of the US Open to Dan Evans.

Although Poland has the elite doubles team of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski, think twice before penciling in a doubles win quite yet. The Australian duo of Hewitt and Matosevic actually handed the Bryan brothers one of their eight losses this season in San Jose. Hewitt also has had plenty of experience teaming up with teammate Chris Guccione in the past.

Whether or not the singles players in this tie will show up, and show up healthy, is a big question mark and is what ultimately will decide the winner of this tie. The doubles rubber could go either way but whichever team’s singles players show up will have the advantage. It would not be surprising if a deciding rubber determines which of these teams will play in the World Group in 2014.

Prediction: Poland 3-2

Stay tuned for a preview of the Davis Cup World Group semifinals later on Thursday.