The dearth of British talent at the highest reaches of the international game has not stopped the LTA paying at least one high-profile employee two annual bonuses of about 20 per cent while admitting, for the second year in succession, that it has not achieved its target for the number of players it wants in the world’s top 100.

The Times has been shown two letters, one sent a year ago and another this month, to Carl Maes, the head of women’s tennis at the LTA, agreeing to bonus payments of 20 per cent for the year 2006-07 and a further 19.2 per cent for 2007-08.

In that period, one British woman player, Anne Keothavong, will have finished a year inside the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s top 100 and she is coached by Claire Curran, her former doubles partner, and Nigel Sears, the head coach of women’s tennis at the LTA, but on a part-time basis. Keothavong said last week: “I like my independence – I feel I’m focused enough and know what I’m doing.” The bonus payments to Maes are linked to what the LTA calls its “Measuring Success Review”, though what that term means is not explained.

The 2007-08 letter, signed by Steven Martens, the player director and, like Maes, a Belgian national, reads: “Whilst we did not meet our target for players in the top 100, we have made good progress in the number of players we have on track for the top 100 and in the number of juniors competing.

“Clearly we all have a part to play in achieving this and as well as reviewing our success as a team, each individual’s contribution in terms of their objectives and competencies has been measured. Your bonus will therefore be 19.2% . . . thank you for your contribution to British tennis so far.”

Give or take a phrase or two, the same letter was sent to Maes a year ago, this one signed by Roger Draper, the chief executive since April 2006, which promised a 20 per cent bonus. Once more, the phrase “whilst we did not meet our target for players in the top 100” was used without a reference to what that target was.

Stuart Smith, the president, who once said that he would like to see half a million juniors competing by the end of 2008 – a figure that was hastily downgraded – has stood foursquare with Draper in the face of a huge staff turnover.

Brad Gilbert received a £700,000-a-year contract to coach Andy Murray, which was paid for by the LTA in an unprecedented move. The American – who was sacked by Murray a year ago after 16 months with the Scot, but was retained to coach Alex Bogdanovic – heads a list of departures that includes David Felgate, a former director of performance, Rebecca Miskin, a former director of tennis operations, Paul Clipson, a former head of finance, and Bill Mountford, a former head of coach relations. Clipson chose to take his case to an industrial tribunal that was settled last month before it came to court.

Smith told last year’s LTA annual meeting: “The true measure of success will always be the number of players in the top 100.”

Murray, the world No 4, was No 43 when Draper was appointed. Keothavong, 25, has made impressive strides to a career-high No 61 and the rather more healthy hue of women’s tennis has been helped by the potential of Australia-born Laura Robson, the 14-year-old who has had a remarkable start to her professional career.

It is believed that the bonuses paid to Maes and others amount to about £25,000 each, which equates to the total prize-money for two ITF women’s or two ATP Futures events that could be staged in Britain to assist younger professional players.

The LTA declined to comment on the bonuses. “We recognise our role as a governing body, but that does not mean we have to disclose personal information or respond to what appears to be a rather unpleasant campaign against one of our employees,” it said.