WHETHER or not Alex Bogdanovic plays another Davis Cup singles rubber for Great Britain, his fevered response to being overlooked for the tie in Ukraine last month has made John Lloyd, the captain, sit up and take note.

Bogdanovic was not considered for the relegation play-off after his stumbling performance against Israel, in Eastbourne, in July. Since then, he has overtaken Greg Rusedski to become Britain’s third highest-ranked player and his straight-sets defeat of Raemon Sluiter, of the Netherlands, in the ATP Challenger in Mons, Belgium, yesterday was a fascinating portent for next April’s home tie against the Dutch.

If a fire could be lit under Bogdanovic, a 22-year-old of so many natural assets, Lloyd could be spoilt for choice sooner than he could have imagined. The next six months are becoming ever more critical in the futures of so many players.

Successive first-round defeats in the Far East have all but ended Andy Murray’s hopes of sneaking a place in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in November. Jiri Novak, a wily Czech veteran who is on his way back to prominence after a spate of injuries, defeated the British No 1 6-3, 7-6 in the Japan Open in Tokyo yesterday.

“Every young player goes through a patch where he’s not playing well,” Murray said. “You can’t expect to get to the semi-finals every week — unless you’re Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.”

Federer made a sluggish start in his first event since winning the US Open last month, beating Viktor Troicki, a qualifier from Serbia, 7-6, 7-6.

Tim Henman plays Juan Martin Del Potro, a teenager rated as highly as any player to emerge from Argentina in the past ten years, in the third round today.