By David Ornstein BBC Sport at Wimbledon |
  Bogdanovic has admitted he may not receive another Wimbledon wildcard |
British number two Alex Bogdanovic saw his woeful run at Wimbledon continue with an eighth successive first-round exit, this time to Tomas Berdych. The 25-year-old, who has been given a wildcard every year since 2002, lost 6-3 6-4 6-4 to the number 20 seed. Bogdanovic was broken once in each set and failed to engineer a single break point as his Czech opponent eased to a deserved victory in 87 minutes. He won only 10 points on the Berdych serve - none of them in the third set. "When it came down to crucial points I made mistakes and when you play at such a high level that can cost you the match," said world number 191 Bogdanovic. "Tomas was the better player today and I can't have any complaints about my defeat." It was a bitterly disappointing end for the Belgrade-born left-hander, who admitted before the match that he was unlikely to be granted another wildcard for Wimbledon should he lose. If that is now the case then, unless he improves his ranking to reach the tournament by right or comes through qualifying, his Wimbledon career will be over.  | I've been criticised for how many wildcards I've been given but I've been British number two for a long time and as long as there's no-one out there better than me I deserve to be there |
Bogdanovic's defeat by Berdych follows losses to Simone Bolelli, Chris Guccione, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Kim, Roger Federer, Sargis Sargasian and Nicolas Escude in his previous seven visits to SW19. "I can't get past the first round and it's difficult to take," said Bogdanovic, the oldest of four British men to be handed a wildcard by the All England Club this year. "But I've had some really hard draws. "I've been criticised for how many wildcards I've been given but I met the criteria every time. I've been British number two for a long time and as long as there's no-one out there better than me I deserve to be there. "I have confidence to get into the top 100, that's where I deserve to be and I'll do everything I can to get there. This is the best tournament in the world and I hope to keep coming back." Given his track record at Wimbledon, it was surprising that Bogdanovic did not put up more of a fight against Berdych. He lacked aggression throughout and made 16 unforced errors to Berdych's 10, while a relatively quiet Court Two crowd seemed somewhat resigned from the outset.  | 606: DEBATE |
Bogdanovic's serve was much-improved and he worked hard to vary his game but Berdych always looked comfortable - whether engaging in baseline rallies or coming into the net - and will be confident of beating second-round opponent Paul-Henri Mathieu. Aided by a booming serve and some raking groundstrokes, Berdych moved 3-2 ahead in the first set and then broke to 15 when Bogdanovic went long with a forehand. The right-hander wrapped up the set with an unreturnable serve down the 'T' and, although Bogdanovic made a positive start in the second set, Berdych looked capable of pouncing almost at will. He took the second of two break points after Bogdanovic twice double-faulted in game eight, and then served out easily. To Bogdanovic's credit, the Briton continued to serve-volley whenever possible but he was simply outclassed by his 6ft 5ins opponent in the third set. Berdych, a beaten quarter-finalist in 2007, showed why he has the game to go far on grass and took his second break point at 3-3 before comfortably sealing his triumph.
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