Andy Murray’s former coach Mark Petchey says Wimbledon’s Ross Hutchins must improve his singles game if he is to be taken seriously, writes Nick Clowes.

The 24-year-old has retained his status as Britain’s number one doubles player despite splitting from Aussie partner Stephen Huss in September and struggling to make an impact on the Grand Slam scene.

And, partnered by Jordan Kerr, he fell agonisingly short of claiming the Japan Open with Jordan Kerr in October, losing 6-2, 5-7, 10-8 to Austrians Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer.

Yet while his doubles ranking remains inside the world’s top 50, Hutchins’ singles standing is 880 – a statistic Petchey believes works against him.

“The guys in the doubles have had a fantastic year and to have a few in the top 50, but to judge the strength of our federation on how well the doubles are doing is laughable.

“Those involved should be massively proud of how they have played, but when you are talking about the LTA’s performance and whether they spending their money in the right areas, then doubles should never come into it.

“For a federation with as many resources as the LTA, there should be more players at the top of the game.”

Hutchins and good friend Murray were defeated in the doubles during the vital Davis Cup clash with Poland in September as Great Britain were relegated to group two of the Europe-Africa Zone.

And former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic believes Great Britain would benefit from handing the likes of Hutchins more responsibility and not relying on the British No.1.

“If Andy doesn’t play, then it is a chance for some of the other players to have international experience and that is good for those players,” said Ivanisevic.

“There needs to be more players out there who can move up because the LTA makes a lot of money and they need to start making new players.

“They cannot rely on Andy Murray for the next ten years because that’s no good. It’s a big opportunity for guys like Ross to step up and be counted and they’ve got to take it.”

* Sky Sports pundit, Mark Petchey is supporting the Barclays Ball Kids initiative, a scheme designed to find the Ballkids for next year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals tournament. To register visit www.barclaysballkids.com