It has become customary in recent years to lament the state of British tennis. The annual ritual of self-flagellation begins on the first day of Wimbledon when, with Pimm’s in hand, we watch with anxiety as first one, then two, then almost every British player crashes out of the draw. On the airwaves, across dinner tables, in gardens and pubs the trial begins and accusations fly: “the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is wasteful”, “the players are brats”, “we lack that Eastern European mettle”. So the script runs.

The facts are indeed sobering. Fred Perry was the last British man to win Wimbledon in 1936 and no Briton has contested a Wimbledon singles final since Virginia Wade in 1977. We have only two men in the top 200 – James Ward trails Murray at 155 – at a time when Spain has 22 and France 21.

Such is the depth of Spanish tennis that almost nobody has heard of Pere Riba, the number 72 in the world. Meanwhile, Serbia, with a population over eight times smaller than Britain, has three men in the top twenty. British women fare better, with Baltacha, Watson, Keothavong and Robson all gracing the top 200, but they still trail Spain and Russia.

Detractors often claim that British juniors are spoiled or soft. Referring to the impressive National Tennis Centre at Roehampton, Djokovic told the BBC that “If you have perfect conditions and everything you want, you get a little spoiled and you do not want to work as hard as you should”. Clijsters concurred: “I don’t know if it’s necessary at such a young age to…treat them (kids) like they’re it”. Eastern European players certainly speak from experience. Ana Ivanovic trained in an abandoned swimming pool between NATO air raids on Serbia and the young Ivan Ljubicic was forced to flee Bosnia-Herzegovina with his mother in 1992, leaving his father to an unknown fate.

Djokovic is half justified in his criticism. A false sense of entitlement has often led British juniors astray. In summer 2008, Dan Evans was suspended by the LTA after he was caught partying with his doubles partner Dan Smethurst before a match and Marcus Willis was sent home from the 2008 Australian Open for turning up to practise late without his rackets.

Roger Draper, the CEO of the LTA, admitted in 2007 that “at times it’s like running a kindergarten” but has endeavored to direct money to the truly deserving players by raising the standard required of those who receive the top level of funding. By this means, and by widening the base of participation, Draper hopes to cut the fat from the body of British tennis.

The early signs are encouraging. Britain has four boys in the ITF (junior) top 30 and three of the four semi-finalists at the junior US Open were British. Oliver Golding went on to win the title. Just days ago, a trio of young Brits – Kyle Edmund, Luke Bambridge and Evan Hoyt) won the junior Davis Cup in Mexico, trouncing France in the semi-final. Heather Watson is speeding up the rankings and Laura Robson makes steady progress.

So, on 22nd June 2012, slough off your gloom, sneak off to the practise courts and catch a glimpse of a potential grand-slam winner.