Melbourne VIC 3004, Australia, 15 February 2017 | tennis.com.au

Australia will face Serbia for the first time in Fed Cup history in a bid to stay in World Group II.

Having lost its World Group II first-round tie to Ukraine on 11-12 February, Australia now faces a play-off tie against the Serbs to retain its place in the eight-nation second tier.

A loss will see the green-and-gold relegated to the Asia/Oceania Zone I tier of the competition, where they have not found themselves since 2009.

Australia will travel to Serbia on 22-23 April for the tie, with a venue and surface yet to be named.

Serbia arrived at this point of the Fed Cup after storming through the Europe/Africa Zone I competition, topping Group D with a 3-0 record before winning a promotional play-off tie – to ascend to the World Group II Play-offs – against Poland.

Ivana Jorovic and Nina Stojanovic helped Serbia clinch the 2-1 victory over Poland.

With Ana Ivanovic retired and Jelena Jankovic not a certainly for the tie having featured in just one Fed Cup tie since 2012, Australia will fancy its chances against what could be a depleted Serbian line-up.

Motivation will be particularly high given Australia has lost five of its last six Fed Cup ties.