The word “fantastic” was used six times in a television interview yesterday to debate the prospects for British tennis. This rosy perspective from Roger Draper, the LTA chief executive, came two hours after the country's leading junior had been dispatched from the Artois Championships in 50 minutes.

His pronouncement came on the day that it was announced that the representation of British men at Wimbledon would be at an historic low with only two, Alex Bogdanovic and Jamie Baker, awarded wild cards into the main draw. The pair were automatically due the invitations because their rankings are at or above the 250 mark that had been set as this year's limit. But it was a tight squeeze - Bogdanovic is No243 and Baker No250.

Time was when all eight wild cards would go to British players and, as said by James Ward, whose performance in taking Marat Safin, the former world No1, to three sets at Queen's Club in West London on Monday continued to be discussed yesterday, when you start the year in the 550s, you would have to win every tournament you enter to reach the target. His consolation is a place in the qualifying competition.

Daniel Evans will have to wait some time before he can indulge in such fancies. His 6-1, 6-1 defeat on the centre court yesterday by Xavier Malisse, of Belgium, was a stark indication of how steep the learning curve is for the 18-year-old from Birmingham. When Malisse was told that Evans is Britain's leading junior, his disbelief was evident. “He does not have a shot that hurts you,” the Belgian said. “He only slices his backhand and he kept serving straight to me.”

Evans may have earned £2,734 from the experience and he did thank Chris Kermode, the tournament director, for the leg-up, but he will lose some of that for petulantly hitting the ball over the old clubhouse during the match. At least he dashed off to compete in the tournament being staged on Wimbledon's practice courts that will give one Briton a wild card into qualifying.

Andy Murray long ago bypassed such modest ambitions. His first game of the tournament, against Sébastien Grosjean, of France, in the second round, was better than the entire Evans-Malisse match that preceded it, but by the end of the second game, Grosjean was suffering with a thigh injury and the match was abandoned.

It was nice to see Murray capless - apparently, he cut his hair and had a shave because he appreciates that it is the done thing for Wimbledon.

Melanie South continued to fly the flag for Britain when she reached the third round of the DFS Classic, beating Sybille Bammer, the No4 seed from Austria, 6-3, 7-5 at Edgbaston Priory, in Birmingham, yesterday. In a contest littered with service breaks, the 22-year-old defended superbly to beat the experienced Bammer, who is ranked No28 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. South said: “She was always fighting and I knew I had to serve it out after a very nervous game at 5-4.” South has also been confirmed as a Wimbledon wild-card entry, with Katie O'Brien, Elena Baltacha and Naomi Cavaday. However, there were no celebrations for Anne Keothavong, the British No1, who was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Kateryna Bondarenko, of Ukraine.