CAN you name five British tennis players?

Andy Murray, Laura Robson, Heather Watson, Elena Baltacha...OK, now I’m starting to struggle. And this is during Wimbledon fortnight.

Admittedly, British tennis is an easy target at this time of year but it doesn’t make the point any less worth making.

Why don’t we produce top level tennis players? Never mind winning a Slam, how about getting past the second round at an event.

Granted, it’s not all about elite sport but the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) was given £3.75million by Sport England this year alone for talent development — not to mention the £25 million it gets from Wimbledon — so success at the top level has to be among its priorities.

What exactly does the LTA do with all its money? It doesn’t appear to be bringing through the next generation of talent.

Murray is Britain’s number one and the governing body can’t claim credit for him as he was largely coached in Spain. Watson was schooled in Florida.

There are a few players on the periphery but, overall, it paints a depressing picture of tennis in this country. Somewhere along the line something is going amiss.

The sport — or Murray, and Tim Henman before him — gets enough coverage to have surely inspired youngsters to pick up a racquet.

So, why have none of them broken through into the upper echelons of the game?

Either they’re all rubbish or the system is failing them.