Bloomfield was well beaten by his British compatriot

Richard Bloomfield was unable to continue his recent good form when he lost to fellow Briton Alex Bogdanovic in the United States on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old shot up 260 places to 292 in the world rankings after a surprise run to the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event in Newport last week.

But he was beaten 6-3 6-4 by Bogdanovic in the first round of a second-tier Challenger event in Aptos, California.

British number two Bogdanovic is ranked 117 places higher than Bloomfield.

The pair, who met in the National Junior Championships in 2001 when Bloomfield won 6-4 6-4, have both been critical of the Lawn Tennis Association recently.

606: DEBATE Are Bloomfield and Bogdanovic right to criticise the LTA?

Norfolk-born Bloomfield, who was the third lowest-ranked ATP Tour semi-finalist for 10 years, criticised British tennis's governing body following last week's defeat by American Mardy Fish, claiming it needs a "real shake-up".

Bogdanovic, meanwhile, hit out at the LTA after having funding cut because of a perceived lack of effort.

The world number 175 described the association's reasons as "disrespectful" and said: "They obviously didn't believe in me anymore".

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