Wimbledon wild card Mimi Xu says she was proud of her fight after pushing Daria Kasatkina to a third-set decider on the opening day of the championship.
The 18-year-old from Swansea was always up against it having drawn a former quarter-finalist ranked some 259 places above her.
And the Australian, making her ninth appearance at SW19, raced into a first-set lead as Xu struggled to find her rhythm.
“She just settled into the match better than I did, I was trying to do the right things but I just had that feeling on my racket,” said Xu.
After leaving the court, the teenager returned transformed and won the second set 6-3 to set up the decider, which Kasatkina won 6-2.
But Xu, playing in only her second Grand Slam, was quick to find the positives.
“I’m proud of myself on how I was able to forget about the first set, forget about that disappointment and refocus and go again,” she said.
“Her experience definitely showed in the tighter moments, but I I fought really well and I’m able to take my experiences from last year and this year into hopefully following years.”