Jo Konta admitted her first round defeat to Aleksandra Krunic at the US Open was not an easy one to take but will still find positives from the three-set battle.
The seventh seed won the first set but unforced errors plagued her game as she was undone by 24-year-old, who ultimately won 4-6 6-3 6-2 in two hours 17 minutes.
And despite her exit to the world number 78, Konta is remaining upbeat.
“It’s definitely not an easy one take,” the Wimbledon semi-finalist said.
“Any tough battle and three-set match, if you don’t come out on the other side it can be difficult.
“But I think it’s important to keep a good perspective on how I competed out there, I fought until the last ball and it’s a great opportunity to take some things I can really improve on.
“I believe she [Krunic] dealt with the situation better than I did and her tennis level got better throughout the match as mine fluctuated.
“Some defeats are more difficult than other due to circumstance but I definitely think there are things I can take forward and take the positives.”
The 26-year-old initially dominated Krunic’s serve, breaking in the third and fifth game of the first set to take the contest away from the Serb.
Konta was then punished for a string of unforced errors as Krunic broke the Brit twice to bring the game back to 4-4.
But the seventh seed showed her class to win the following game and then clinch the first set 6-4.
The British number one struggled to consolidate her lead in the second set – managing to save two break points in the sixth game.
But her resistance would not last long as Krunic capitalised on poor first serving to force the contest into a decider.
Visibly frustrated, Konta was now on the back foot and was broken in the deciding set as she wrestled with her first serve.
Despite digging her heels in to level the match up, Konta could not get her natural rhythm going in New York as Krunic broke her serve again.
And as the Serb sensed an upset, she served out the match with ease to knock Konta out at the first hurdle.
Konta wasn’t the only British woman to suffer defeat after Heather Watson lost to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-4 6-4.
Elsewhere it was a good day for Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie as they both progressed through on the opening day.
Edmund overcame 32nd seed Robin Hasse in straight sets with Norrie defeat Dmitry Tursonov after the Russian was forced to retire as the Brit went two sets up.
Sportsbeat 2017