Wimbledon 2009: losing streak continues for Alex Bogdanovic

Alex Bogdanovic added another notch to his rotten, rotten Wimbledon career when he was beaten in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 by the Czech number 20 seed Thomas Berdych.

It marked the eighth time in succession he had been beaten in the first round - not quite the worst record in championship history - that belongs to the Irishman Joe Hackett who lost nine matches on the bounce in the 1950s.

When you take into account his two defeats here in the Davis Cup Bogdanovich stands alone in playing ten times at the All England Club and losing the lot.

Given that he is ranked as Britain’s second best player it is not a statistic that speaks of a profundity of talent in the country.

Bogdanovic was drawn to play in the new number two court, where the surface is some twenty feet below the rest of the All England Club, a sunken court, the perfect place for the Belgrade born Brit’s hopes to disappear once more without trace. And disappear they did.

He lost the first point, he lost the first game, he was first broken in the sixth game and from there on, only one result was plausible. He did make the occasional cracking shot, a fine serve here, a clever drop shot there.

But for him every service game was a battle, whereas Berdych generally cruised to victory on his own serve in love.

It was not through wont of trying. By halfway through the first set, the back of his shirt was transparent with sweat and he was soon grunting with the effort of struggling in the baking heat, though the noise was more seal with laryngitis than war cry.

The momentum, though, never seemed to go his way. Almost from the first serve it was clear that he was going to do little more than add to his ignominious record.

Still, there are compensations. As a first round loser, he trousers a cheque for £10,750. Which, given that he didn’t have to go through the effort of qualifying after being given his eighth wild card on the trot, marks a reasonable day’s pay.

And with the men’s doubles (£5,250) and the mixed doubles (£1,300) into which he has also been gifted entry yet to come, the wages of failure are not too bad at all. For now, Britain’s only Wimbledon hope is Andy Murray. But then, with Bogdanovic as his back up, did we really expect anything else?