Australia will replace the suspended Russian team for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, governing body International Tennis Federation (ITF) said on Monday.

The Australian team were the highest ranked team among the losing semi-finalists in 2021 and will take Russia’s automatic spot in this year’s Finals, scheduled to be held in November.

Russia was banned from defending its Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup titles following its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus, a key staging area for the invasion, which Russia says is a “special operation”, has also been banned from the international team competitions.