Becker seeks inspiration from more famous namesake

KREFELD, Germany, Feb 8 (Reuters) Benjamin Becker will seek a performance worthy of his namesake when the 25-year-old makes his Davis Cup debut for Germany against Croatia starting tomorrow.

Boris Becker helped Germany to the first two of their three Davis Cup wins between 1988 and 1993 and retired with a win-loss record of 54-12.

It has been a long time since Germany had a player quite as influential as Becker, or a team with such strength in depth.

Benjamin Becker, ranked number 49 in the world and no relation to Boris, is joined in the squad by world number 10 Tommy Haas and doubles specialists Alexander Waske and Michael Kohlmann.

Croatia, the 2005 champions, are led by Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic, ranked at eight and nine in the world respectively, and the home side know they will need Becker to play above himself if they are to stand a chance.

''Wearing the name B Becker on my shirt is a motivation for me,'' Becker told reporters after he was drawn to play Ljubicic in the second singles tomorrow.

''This is the best week of my career so far. I'm just so proud to be here.'' Haas gets the tie underway against Ancic before the Becker-Ljubicic match-up later tomorrow. Waske and Kohlmann are set to take on Ljubicic and Ancic in the doubles on Saturday, before the reverse singles on Sunday.

Haas, who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, was relieved to see Ancic's name come out of the hat first at today's draw.

''I'm pleased to be going off first because I prefer to know when I'm starting rather than having to wait around,'' Haas said.

''It's been a great start to the year and now I hope to go on playing just as well.'' The prize for victory will be a quarter-final tie against Belgium or Australia.

REUTERS PDS PM2122