Tim Henman is determined to get Great Britain off to a winning start when he takes on Hicham Arazi in the opening rubber of the Davis Cup play-off today.

Defeat against Morocco would see Britain relegated from the World Group and Henman is well aware the final outcome could depend on his opening performance.

''It is a very important game, but the nature of this means that every point is winnable by both sides,'' he said, hoping his performance can catapult Britain forward as he did last year in Ecuador.

''It worked well in Ecuador, we got off to a good start and silenced the crowd. Here it will be important to try and take the crowd out of the equation, because if it gets close they could be an important factor.''

Henman was keen to praise Arazi's ability but he believes patience could be the key to victory.

''He's got massive ability, but I have got a good record against him although that will account for little tomorrow. If you frustrate him he can be fragile mentally,'' he said yesterday.

Teammate Greg Rusedski cannot wait to get started following a disappointing summer.

''I'm looking forward to it, I'm feeling confident and I feel my game is coming back,'' said Rusedski, who takes on Younes El Aynaoui in the tie's second rubber.

''I've had a great ten days training all of my hard work has paid off and physically I feel a lot stronger.

''If Tim can get us underway with a win, it puts the pressure on Morocco.''

Rusedski also believes his and Henman's Davis Cup experience could also be a key factor.

He added: ''You become more relaxed in this type of situation. I would have been a lot more nervous about this game three years ago.

"But now I'm more relaxed because if you're nervous that only makes things harder.''

Meanwhile the Moroccans are also looking forward to the tie.

Captain Karim Alami said: ''We're ready to start. We have practised hard and we are prepared physically. I don't think we are favourites, because Britain have two high ranked and very experienced players and we have a lot of respect for them.

''Nevertheless we are at home and we have the crowd behind us, we're mentally ready for the challenge but we're not saying that we're favourites.''

However, Morocco's star player El Aynaoui thinks the crowd will be disappointing.

He said yesterday: ''The last tie which we played in Marrakech, didn't have a great atmosphere and in Casablanca the crowds are lower so we will have to see what the atmosphere is tomorrow. There could even be more English people here.

''There hasn't been much publicity about this and a lot of people don't even know we are playing.''

Play begins at 12noon BST today. Tomorrow, Henman and Rusedski will team up in the doubles against Arazi and El Aynaoui, due to start at 2pm BST, before Sunday sees Henman play El Aynaoui and Rusedski taking on Arazi when play once again starts at midday UK time.

Great Britain have dropped Arvind Parmar for the match, with Miles Maclagan confirmed ahead of him in the four-man squad.

Alex Bogdanovic is the other member of the squad, although it would seem that captain Roger Taylor will rely on Henman and Rusedski for each rubber.

Should there be any injuries then Maclagan would be favourite to play doubles, while Bogdanovic appears most likely to be selected as first singles reserve.

''I think that by bringing Miles in, it gives us a little extra back-up in doubles, so we've done it to protect ourselves,'' said Taylor