Tennis: Legend says Lothians man must produce

Becker, the youngest ever winner at Wimbledon when he landed the title aged 17 in 1985, has been critical of the performances of Britain's finest on the Davis Cup stage in recent seasons in the obvious absence of Andy Murray.

Britain now possesses just two players inside the world's top 300, Murray and James Ward, with Britain's Davis Cup skipper Leon Smith so short of quality reinforcements, he has been forced to call up Alex Bogdanovic for Bolton - a man who has dropped 200 places to 378 in the world and has lost all six rubbers he has ever played for his country.

The victors of the tie in Bolton will face the winner of Ireland v Luxembourg on July 8-10 in the second round and Becker says Fleming must play a leading role against Tunisia.

"The upcoming Davis Cup event for Britain is really important as it is time to get an overdue win," said Becker, right, who is helping to drive sign-up for Sunday's Scotland regional Barclays Ball Kid trial at the David Lloyd Centre in Edinburgh.

"It hasn't been the best of times recently in Davis Cup tennis for the team but it is time for Colin (Fleming] to put that behind him and just concentrate on getting back up the ladder.

"Obviously the ultimate goal will be to get back into the World Group but that is still a couple of years away right now so it is all about taking small steps and improving on the court first. The players in the team are all good players and on paper are stronger than the Tunisian team so will head into it as favourites and it will be interesting to see how they deal with that. These players seem to play well in the regular tournaments but when it comes to representing your country in the Davis Cup they don't seem to be able to do the same thing.

"It is all about dealing with that pressure and just concentrating on your own game and if they do that then I am sure more positive results will arrive."

Fleming, 26, tasted Commonwealth Games gold in October as he teamed up with British rookie Jocelyn Rae to win the mixed doubles.

And Becker, who landed 15-career doubles titles and reached a world high of six, is convinced the Linlithgow-ace should use his podium-topping experience as a catalyst to kick-on in 2011. "Success at any level is the key to future success and to have that come in the Commonwealth Games is a real positive," added Becker, who is a Barclays Ball Kid ambassador, working with 2,500 youngsters in 2011 ahead of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals later this year. "It is now time for these guys to build on this and take it into the Grand Slams.

"They have just started on their journey and this is a great start - but now they must keep it going and build on it."

Meanwhile, Becker has called on Jamie Murray to form a newlook long-term doubles pairing with brother Andy, if he's to once again scale the heights of his 2007 Wimbledon win.

Alongside Jelena Jankovic, Jamie Murray landed the mixed doubles title at SW19, but since his career-changing win, the 25-year-old has struggled with form and fitness, while regularly changing his doubles partner. And Becker, who landed 15-career doubles titles, has urged Jamie Murray to rediscover his best form and quick if he's to prosper on the international stage again.

"Jamie has already shown his talents when winning Wimbledon and he has gone on to do well in the other Grand Slams - but now is the time to reproduce it," said Becker.

"He has been teaming up with his brother sometimes and they seem to have a great relationship but I think this needs to happen more and more. I would recommend the pair playing more games together because Jamie will undoubtedly learn a few things from his brother. And I am sure Andy would learn a few things from Jamie too.

• TO become a Barclays Ball Kid at the 2011 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals book a place now at barclaysballkids.com. The Edinburgh Regional Trial takes place at David Lloyd, New Haven Harbour this Saturday.