Great Britain have slipped out of the world's 16 elite tennis nations following Alex Bogdanovic's defeat to Alexander Peya.
Bogdanovic suffers familiar meltdown in decider
Great Britain have slipped out of the world's 16 elite tennis nations following Alex Bogdanovic's defeat to Alexander Peya in the deciding rubber of their Davis Cup clash with Austria.
Britain will now play in the Europe/Africa zone against the likes of Latvia, Belarus or Macedonia after Peya came from a set down to defeat Bogdanovic 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 at Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old Brit had not won a 'live' Davis Cup match in five previous attempts but started brightly, playing a superb first set to dominate a rival who, at 164, is two places below the Brit in the world rankings.
But, as so often before, the mental side of Bogdanovic's game fell short as Peya battled his way into the match despite looking the lesser-talented of the pair.
Bogdanovic had his chances but there were too many errors, such as a wild long smash in the ninth game of the second set and a failure to convert break points in the sixth game of the third set.
By the time it got to the fourth set the body language on the British bench was resigned, barely any vocal support going Bogdanovic's way.
Peya rattled off four straight games before the Brit put in a late flurry but, in truth, the result was inevitable as Austria beat Britain for the first time on grass.
Andy Murray, who had set up the decider with a gritty triumph over Jurgen Melzer, questioned Bogdanovic's commitment following the defeat.
"When Alex went behind we didn't see any fist pumps," he said. "You don't really hear any 'C'mons' or any emotion.
"Even if you are breaking rackets I don't care, I want to see that you want to get the crowd involved and are desperate to win the match. It shows that you really care and are giving 110%.
"The crowd in my match was very good. In Alex's match it looked as if a lot of people left and the atmosphere was not very good.
"If I make a sacrifice I think every single person in the team should be willing to make those sacrifices and say they will give it all they've got."
Bogdanovic admitted that Murray's style was in direct contrast to his own, adding: "I agree with what he's (Murray) saying. It comes down to personalities.
"When I get pumped up it takes too much out of me. I was trying to stay calm."
