Andy Lapthorne admitted that Australian opponent Heath Davidson was simply too good as his quad wheelchair singles campaign came to an end in the opening round.
Londoner Lapthorne, who is supported by the LTA’s Wheelchair Tennis Performance Pathway, was beaten 6-1 6-3 by the Australian on Court 14.
There was a late fightback by the Brit towards the end of the match, rallying from 5-0 to 5-3 down in the second set as he looked to apply pressure.
However, the 31-year-old conceded that his opponent was too good, saying: “It’s difficult when you come up against someone playing like that. It’s very tough, there was not much room for error.
“There were quite a lot of close games in there. I almost came back in that second set. I had a chance at 5-3, 15-15, had the shot to put it past him – but I hit it straight back to him.
“It was one of them where he played very well, and there’s not much you can do when someone has a day like that. It’s very difficult. I think I played alright to be fair. It’s obviously hugely disappointing to lose here, but it’s one of those things.
“Sometimes you have to admit the other player had one of those days where he played very well. He played very well and put me under a lot of pressure and there was not much room for error.
“I had the chances in the second set to be closer and by the way the set ended if I had kept it a bit closer I might have been able to turn it around, but once you go 5-0 down there’s zero room for error.”
Despite defeat today Wimbledon is not over for Lapthorne, who now switches his attention to his doubles campaign with David Wagner.
The duo are defending champions in the event, and motivation is high for Lapthorne to seal another triumph.
He added: “We want to try and win the doubles again. It’s massive for us so we’re going out to try and do that. I’ll try to refocus and get over this as quickly as possible, and go again.”
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