Speed gun serves up a problem for Ball

Former Australian Davis Cup captain Neale Fraser believes Carsten Ball's booming
serve will become a greater weapon if he ignores the speedometer.
The 22-year-old, 198cm left-hander has climbed to his current career-high world
No.117 ranking largely on the back of his powerful first ball.
But Fraser - whose own big left-handed serve helped him to three grand slam singles
titles and 16 in doubles - said Australia's third-ranked man could make more of that
asset.
"He's got the variety, but I think like all players of today they're very pace
conscious," Fraser said, after watching Ball practice at Melbourne Park ahead of the
Davis Cup tie against Taiwan starting on Friday.
"That (speed) monitor on the court does not help players of today, they want to
break the record. Carsten probably sneaks a look at it now and then.
"If he can just forget about that and concentrate on variety of the first serve and
first point ... I really think he should never lose a serve when he plays."
Fraser said Ball had the height and talent to succeed, but needed to eradicate a
tendency towards "lazy" patches during matches.
Ball said he would "treasure" any advice from Fraser and try to take it into his game.
Team captain John Fitzgerald has Ball earmarked to partner doubles specialist Paul
Hanley on Saturday.
Ball is also vying for one of the opening day's two singles berths, with 17-year-old
Bernard Tomic and Australia's second-ranked player Peter Luczak.
Lleyton Hewitt is absent after recent hip surgery.
Ball's likely doubles selection could help Tomic's chances of playing singles and
becoming the nation's youngest ever Davis Cup debutant, as Fitzgerald aims to share
the workload.
Fitzgerald said Tomic was "well in the mix", but his status as the nation's great
young hope was not a selection factor.
"He's been practising well, he's in good form, he's happy, but so are the other
boys," he said.
"That's not the reason you pick, you don't pick someone to blood them, you pick the
right players and in the right combinations to win the tie."
The boy Tomic beat in the 2008 Australian Open junior final, 18-year-old Tsung-Hua
Yang, is expected to be Taiwan's No.1 singles player in the Asia-Oceania zonal tie,
in the absence of their best-ranked man, Yen-Hsun Lu.
The winner must beat either Japan or the Philippines in May to qualify for a World
Group play-off in September.