British junior sent home

The 17-year-old 16th seed, who reached the third round of the boy's singles at Wimbledon last year, was due to open his account on Monday but the Lawn Tennis Association have announced that he has been withdrawn from the tournament for disciplinary reasons.

"He's blown his chance here at the Australian Open," LTA chief executive Roger Draper told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"We actually wrote to him last week explaining that he was in the last chance saloon. A few things have happened in the last few days which have led to him being sent home.

"We said last year we were going to get a lot tougher and hopefully Marcus will come back a better player and more wiser as a result of this.

"It's just frustrating because he's a really talented player but hopefully these players will learn from their mistakes and realise that they're blowing their chances.

"We're trying to change the culture amongst the junior players. Coming to the Slams just reinforces it - you see the Slovaks and the Croats and the Serbs and they work hard and have the right attitude.

"You don't see them missing training and leaving their rackets at the hotel. We're trying to explain to all these players that they're role models to the 13 and 14-year-olds and that's starting to sink in with a few of them.

"We've got to hope we get the right reaction from Marcus."