TWO Britons vying for a chunk of the 30,000 euro prize money on offer at this week’s Caversham Men’s ATP Challenger at Les Ormes have been dumped out of the tournament at the first round.

Alex Bogdanovic, ranked 187 in the world, fell to Germany’s Tobias Kamke – ranked 240 – in straight sets 6-2, 6-4. And Daniel Cox, who was a wild card entry into the tournament, was easily outdone by former world No. 12 Dominik Hrbatý, who has managed to maintain his impressive form shown in qualifying. Hrbatý has won over $6 million in prize money throughout his career, but has fallen to his current 275 world position through injury.

Yesterday he showed great potential to climb back up the rankings, playing some of his best tennis since he returned to the circuit, and proving too strong for Cox on the fast courts at Les Ormes with an untroubled 6-2, 6-1 win over the Brit. He is now to face German second seed Andreas Beck, who slid past Italy’s Stefano Galvani 6-4, 7-5 in yesterday’s first round.

Meanwhile Jersey’s Katie Gouyette could prove no match for Russian tennis threat Polina Vinogradova yesterday as she bowed out in her first women’s ITF $10,000 tournament qualifier 6-0, 6-1. The 17-year-old, who recently competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India, was outdone by Vinogradova’s superior power and experience – yet CILTA manager Hugh Raymond said Gouyette should not be disappointed with her performance.

• Picture: Top-ranked Briton Alex Bogdanovic slipping to defeat against Germany’s Tobias Kamke at Les Ormes yesterday. Picture by Tony Pike (00600568)