Wimbledon cheques provide lifeline for Britain's struggling fringe players

They are Britain's skid-row tennis scrappers who get by on small change, chasing their dreams at tournaments in Burnie in Australia, Rimouski in Canada or Anning in China. But every June, they briefly share the same spotlight as Andy Murray, before returning to anonymity.

While the world No 2 goes into Wimbledon confident of ending Britain's 77-year wait to crown a home men's champion, his compatriots will be grateful that they are guaranteed at least a first-round loser's cheque of £23,500 (HK$280,000).

For British No 2 James Ward, 214 places below Murray in the world rankings, that windfall would almost double the US$38,000 he has pocketed in the first six months of the year. The Davis Cup teammates are both 26, but the similarities end there.

The Olympic and US Open champion has amassed US$27 million in his career, while Ward has banked US$426,000 in his seven years trudging on the second-tier Challenger Tour.

When Murray was winning the US Open in September, Ward was losing in the quarter-finals of a Challenger in Shanghai, picking up US$1,460 for his troubles as well a season-ending wrist injury.

But he had a brief taste of the big time at last year's Wimbledon, pushing former world No 8 Mardy Fish of the United States to five sets in the second round.

"You've got to have self-belief otherwise you're never going to be a good player," said the London taxi driver's son. "I've been playing at this level for a while, but the top players do it every week, and that's the difference."