Petchey: Brits are rubbish!
Ian Flanagan was one of three British tennis players described as "rubbish" after crashing out in the first round of the Wimbledon qualifying tournament.
The 22-year-old, who shocked Mark Philippoussis at Queen's, was thrashed 6-1, 6-0 by Israel's Andy Ram at Roehampton.
Flanagan was quickly followed out of the competition by Yorkshire's Andrew Banks and Welshman Chris Lewis.
Mark Petchey, the Lawn Tennis Association men's manager of national training, said: "They were rubbish. They had a chance to prove themselves and failed. The players have to hold up their hands and show more commitment and a better attitude. There are no excuses and it's going to be a long haul."
Flanagan, whose interest in the event lasted only 39 minutes, complained of a stomach bug, adding: "To pull out would have been a cop-out. I came out not feeling good and I didn't feel I was in the contest, but he (Ram) played well."
The Nottingham-based player rejected the chance to play in the all-British wildcard play-off competition last week to focus on his challenge at Queen's and will now miss out on Wimbledon. He remains disappointed that the All England Club did not give him credit for the Philippoussis win and grant him a wildcard anyway. Flanagan said: "I thought I had a good shot at a wildcard but I will keep fighting and hope to get there on merit next year."
Jamie Delgado provided the only bright spot for Britain at Roehampton with a straight-sets victory over Mariano Delfino, of Argentina. He plays another Argentine, Federico Browne, in today's second round.
In the Nottingham Open, Alex Bogdanovic celebrated a surprise 7-6, 6-4 victory over world No45 Joachim Johansson of Sweden. The 20-year-old, who is ranked 307 and already has a Wimbledon wildcard, said: "I had a great win against Jan-Michael Gambill here last year and now this so, hopefully, I can keep going."
Greg Rusedski begins the defence of his Nottingham title today knowing victory is essential to revive his fast-fading Wimbledon dream. He faces Slovakia's Karol Kucera in a repeat of the 1997 final which Rusedski won on his way to becoming the first British player to finish inside the world's top 10.
He also went on to reach the US Open final that year but the 30-yearold lost in the first round of the Stella Artois Championship last week and has won only two out of eight matches since being cleared of drugs allegations in March.
Amanda Janes, daughter of former French Open champion Christine Truman, has been left to fight the home corner against rising Chinese star Jie Zheng in the Hastings Direct women's event at Eastbourne today after Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha made familiar early British exits.
