Davis Cup delight for Lloyd

Tennis

David Lloyd, Britain's Davis Cup captain, was in confident mood after hearing the draw for the 1996 competition, made in London yesterday.

Britain, languishing in the Euro-African Zone Group Two - in effect, the Third Division - will play Slovenia at home from 3 to 5 May and, if successful, will then probably meet Ghana away from 12 to 14 July and then Egypt at home from 20 to 22 September.

If they win all three ties, Britain will be promoted to the Euro-African Group One and Lloyd says: "I like our draw very much. If all goes well, there is no reason why we should not go up next year.

"On paper, we have a team that can win promotion. Greg Rusedski has just gone up to 35 in the world rankings, his highest ever, and Tim Henman and Mark Petchey are both doing well."

1996 Davis Cup DRAW Euro-African Zone Group Two: Great Britain v Slovenia; Ghana v Malta; Egypt v Macedonia; Latvia v Ivory Coast; Poland v Nigeria; Luxembourg v Belarus; Yugoslavia v Slovak Republic; Algeria v Portugal. World Group first round (Feb 9-11): Italy v Russia; South Africa v Austria; Switzerland v Germany; France v Denmark; India v The Netherlands; Sweden v Belgium; Czech Republic v Hungary; United States v Mexico.

n Steffi Graf, under investigation for tax evasion, has dropped out of the Brighton tournament later this month and is unlikely to play again until the Philadelphia event in November, her lawyer said yesterday.