Wendelken pleased to overcome early nerves despite Wimbledon Qualifying loss

Harry Wendelken was pleased to overcome early nerves after an encouraging display on his Wimbledon Qualifying debut on Monday. Cambridge player Wendelken received a wildcard into the qualifying event in Roehampton, with the world No. 514 drawn against Matteo Gigante.

Ad The 21-year-old started slowly and fell a set down to the Italian, though looked more comfortable throughout the second set. TennisMonday hits the recent button to progress at Wimbledon QualifyingA FEW SECONDS AGO And he was close to forcing a decider, holding a set point in the tiebreak before world No.254 Gigante rallied to close out a 6-3 7-6(6) victory. It was perhaps the biggest occasion of Wendelken's career so far, and he was happy that he was able to settle into the contest as it went on.

He said: «I had a little bit of nerves going into the match as it's my first ever Wimbledon as a senior. »I thought at the start of the match he was the more aggressive one, and I was still trying to get my feet into the match. In the second set I was able to play a lot better, and was trying to play my game a lot more.

«I got into the tiebreak, had a set point but he played a good point to save it. I had another couple of chances in the breaker, but overall I don't think it was a bad match. »Obviously I would have liked to settle in a little earlier, but if a few points here and there had gone my way, I'd probably gone to a third set.