ANDY Murray and Elena Baltacha prevented yesterday turning into the most humiliating day in post-war British tennis as they left it late to book their place in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships.

Murray beat American Robbie Kendrick 7-5 6-7 6-3 6-4 in the final match on Centre Court to set up a secondround clash with Latvian Ernests Gulbis, before Baltacha saw off Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko at 9.25pm to become the only British woman to survive the first round.

Nevertheless, with six other domestic players having lost yesterday, to add to the three Britons who crashed out of Wimbledon on Monday, the Scottish duo’s success was not enough to prevent searching questions being asked of the Lawn Tennis Association.

According to 2008’s annual report, the LTA boasts an annual income of £37.5m, and pumps £14.1m a year into its player performance budget, a figure that dwarves the annual expenditure of all but a handful of national associations.

Murray and Baltacha apart, that investment has failed to produce another male or female capable of winning a singles match at this year’s Wimbledon, and given that Murray left his homeland to train at Barcelona’s Schiller International School at the age of 15, the LTA can hardly claim the world number three as one of their own.

“It’s not great is it,” said Murray. “It’s disappointing, and the depth needs to get way better. It’s not acceptable.

Some of the players played well, but they are just not at the same level as a lot of the guys.

“They don’t play at this level very often because they’re not ranked high enough. So when the big points come along, they’re just not used to them.”

If Murray wins Wimbledon, of course, the humiliation of the opening two days from a British perspective will be forgotten.

The Scot was not at his flawless best yesterday, but having survived a scare when Kendrick won the second set on a tie break, he produced an exemplary display of serving to close out a four-set victory.

He was only broken once – when his concentration lapsed towards the end of the first set – and while Kendrick’s willingness to go for his shots briefly threatened an upset, the number three seed exuded calm authority as he broke midway through the third and fourth sets to establish a match-winning advantage.

Murray will have to improve markedly if he is to trouble the likes of Roger Federer next week, but in terms of settling into the tournament, it was a case of job well done.

Yet while the British number one finally gave a record 46,000-strong Wimbledon crowd something to shout about, Dan Evans, Josh Goodall and Alex Bogdanovic all crashed out.

Evans suffered an expected straight sets defeat to Russian number 12 seed Nikolay Davydenko, while Goodall battled gamely before losing 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to Frenchman Michael Llodra in a game that was continued from Monday evening.

Bogdanovic’s defeat was the most dispiriting, with the British number two making it eight defeats from eight wildcard appearances at SW19.

The 25-year-old, who has never won a match of any description at Wimbledon, went down 6-3, 6- 4, 6-4 to 20th seed Thomas Berdych, but while many commentators criticised the decision to hand him yet another wildcard, Bogdanovic defended his appearance in the draw.

“I’ve been criticised for how many wildcards I’ve had, but I don’t set the rules,” he said.

“People criticise me for the wildcards, but I’ve been British number two for a long time and I think I deserve my chance.

“Why haven’t I won a game?

Look at my draws, and look at the players I’ve lost to. All the players I’ve played here have been higher ranked than me.

“I go out there every year trying to win. But it doesn’t matter if you’ve already lost eight or ten times if you keep coming up against the likes of Federer, (Rafael) Nadal and Berdych.”

Britain’s women were equally unsuccessful, with Georgie Stoop, Katie O’Brien and Anne Keothavong all suffering defeats before Baltacha secured a thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win as dusk descended.