Bogdanovic stuns top seed Lee

Bogdanovic on his way to beating Martin Lee

The teenager billed as the next big thing in British tennis thrashed the top seed at the National Championships in Bolton on Wednesday.

Alex Bogdanovic resides 951 world ranking positions below Martin Lee, who he beat 7-5, 6-0 in Wednesday's second-round tie.

Middlesex-based 17-year-old Bogdanovic was born in Yugoslavia but his family moved to Britain when he was eight - and only then did he take up tennis.

This year he won the Uruguay Bowl in Montevideo and became the first British player to reach the semi-finals in the junior competition at Flushing Meadows.

But he said beating Lee was his finest hour so far.

I tried my hardest on every point but he didn't give me a sniff

Martin Lee

The British number three had thrashed Bogdanovic in straight sets last year in the first round of this competition.

Bogdanovic said: "I didn't expect to get through - all I wanted was to go out and play my best and if he beat me 6-0 6-0 I'd walk away and learn from what I did wrong.

"But this win has given me loads of confidence.

"I'll focus on the quarter-finals and now I wouldn't be surprised if I went on to win the tournament."

The youngster, who meets James Nelson in the last eight on Thursday, held the upper hand from the start.

He carved out three unconverted break points in the first set before Lee double-faulted on the fourth to hand him the set.

The second set was simply a whitewash.

Martin Lee feels the strain against the teenager

Lee, who has never gone beyond the quarter-finals in these championships, was philosophical about his surprise defeat.

"I learnt a very big thing today - something to do with my mind - which I would not have learnt if I'd won," he said.

"I tried my hardest on every point but he didn't give me a sniff - he started off well and just kept playing the same way through the whole match.

"He certainly surprised me how many winners he hit."

Bogdanovic is a member of the British intermediate squad based at Sutton and coached by Argentine clay court expert Tito Vasquez.

This year he was used by Britain's Davis Cup squad as their designated hitter for the tie against Portugal.

Attitude

He said that experience accelerated his development.

"Just to be next to them and hitting with them helps me such a lot.

"I keep the memories of what their attitude was like on court and I try to do the same."

Third seed Barry Cowan struggled through to the last eight with a 6-3 6-3 win over Cambridge's James Layne despite feeling unwell.

In the women's competition 18-year-old Anne Keothavong booked her quarter-final place with a 6-2 6-1 cruise against Alice Barnes.

She meets Lucie Ahl, who also dropped just three games against Rebecca Rankin, on Thursday.