Britons' Wimbledon wild card play-off

Alex Bogdanovic, the 18-year-old national champion, who was given his Davis Cup debut in Australia in February in the absence of both Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, has been warned that he will have to take part in a play-off in order to get a wild card for Wimbledon.

David Felgate, the Lawn Tennis Association's Director of Performance, made it clear at a media day at the Welwyn Garden City Tennis Academy yesterday that Britain's underachieving players will have to earn their wild cards for the world's greatest tournament in future.

No sooner had Jeremy Bates, the manager of men's national training, announced that there would be an eight-man play-off for two of the six wild cards reserved for Britons next June than Felgate emphasised: "This sends a good message to some of our players, like Bogdanovic, to improve their ranking.''

Bogdanovic, who won the national singles title in Bolton last year and gave a good account of himself in the early stages of his Davis Cup test against Lleyton Hewitt in Sydney is No 11 in Britain with a world ranking of 493. Bates said that 350 was a likely cut off for the four wild cards that will be distributed to the top four players in the rankings.

The shoot-out is due to take place on grass courts a week before the pre-qualifying tournament for Wimbledon, which would give unsuccessful players a chance to try and qualify the following week at Roehampton, where they would be in competition with players from the rest of the world.

Henman, currently ranked No 30, and Rusedski, No 70, will get direct entry into the 128-strong main draw – fitness permitting – so the new initiative by the LTA in collaboration with the All England club will enable the four players below them to receive four wild cards, "because they have earned them'', Bates said. At the moment those players are Arvind Parmar, Martin Lee, Alan Mackin and Mark Hilton.

Ranked beneath those four are Richard Bloomfield, Jamie Delgado, Miles Maclagan, James Auckland and Bogdanovic. Those five, augmented by fringe players will make up the eight-man draw.

The finalists will qualify for wild cards, and there will also be a play-off for third and fourth places in case other wild cards drop out of the championships because of injuries.

A similar process will take place in the women's singles, in which none of the British players are ranked high enough to get into the main draw. The difference with the women, however, is that four wild cards will be distributed to the top-ranked players and only one will be contested in the play-off. This is because Wimbledon have a reciprocal arrangement with other Grand Slam championships to award a wild card to an overseas player. Eight women will play off, the wild card going to the winner. There will also be a play-off for third and fourth places, the winner, along with the runner-up in the final, being put on standby.