Burrage savours Centre Court debut despite Wimbledon defeat

Jodie Burrage savoured her Centre Court debut as she looks to take invaluable lessons from her Wimbledon second round loss. After a maiden SW19 win against Caty McNally on Monday, Kingston's Burrage — who is supported by the LTA's Pro Scholarship Programme — was handed a last 64 contest against 11th seed Daria Kasatkina. Ad Kasatkina reached a career high of eighth last October, and was runner-up at the LTA's Rothesay International Eastbourne last weekend — as well as being a former quarter-finalist at the All England Club.

TennisKatie Boulter's staying power helps seal second round spot30 MINUTES AGO And if the occasion wasn't already significant enough for the Brit, she and her opponent were handed the opportunity to open Centre Court action on Wednesday. Ultimately Kasatkina's grass-court guile and trademark consistency proved key, as she sealed a 6-0 6-2 victory in an hour, but the occasion still proved a memorable one for 24-year-old Burrage. She said: «It was a good experience.

Obviously, it's not the result that I wanted. »But all in all, you dream to be out on Centre Court. When I found out yesterday, it's so exciting.

In the same breath, you've got to deal with those nerves as well. «I wish I could have settled a little bit earlier today. But you've got to go through these experiences to feel more comfortable in the next ones.

»There's different ways you can go about it. I wanted to take it all in. I like using the crowd to my advantage as well.

I just wanted to have a look about. «It's obviously a massive court, and I've never played on anything like that. So for me, instead of thinking it's not a big deal, I wanted to embrace it.