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Great Britain were handed a relatively easy opening tie to the 2009 Davis Cup when they were drawn against Ukraine at home.

John Lloyd's side were relegated to the lower league of the competition after falling 3-2 to Austria in a World Group play-off at the weekend.

After receiving a first-round bye in the Euro-Africa Zone I they were given a March meeting with the 41st ranked Ukrainian side.

The 24th ranked British team avoided a potentially tricky trip to Italy, and were instead handed a rematch of a 2006 second-round tie they won 3-2.

Ukraine's top-ranked player is the world number 83 Sergiy Stakhovsky, who is their only player in the top-200.

"This is definitely a match we are capable of winning," Lloyd said. "Stakhovsky is a good young player who is on the up and can play well on any surface but I think this a good draw for us."

World number four Andy Murray, who expressed his disappointment at the performances of his British team-mates following their relegation to Austria, has yet to confirm whether he will compete in the Ukraine tie.

Murray pulled out of a World Group tie at Argentina at the start of the year because of the change of surface to clay.

The tie against Ukraine will happen before the start of the claycourt season, and Lloyd could opt for a faster surface in order to pacify Murray and secure the services of the US Open runner-up.

"Now it's time for us to do a bit of research on what is the best surface for the players so I'll spend some time studying the results of their players over the last year and start thinking about where we're going to play," he said.

"They will be full of confidence after a 5-0 win against Portugal to make it into this group but we beat them last time when we had to travel away so I'm confident that we will be able to do it again."

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport