Xu proud of her fight in first-round Wimbledon loss

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."

Xu, who drew Emma Raducanu on her debut last year, said she was able to enjoy her Wimbledon experience more this time around.

"I came back a lot more experienced, I had different emotions going into the match and I was a lot more excited and less nervous," she said.

"But I think the crowd is always amazing and it's just an amazing feeling being back."

Despite her singles disappointment, Xu's Wimbledon journey continues in the ladies doubles this week.

She and fellow Brit Alicia Dudeney take on 2023 French Open doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei and Wang Xinyu.

"We get on really well, it's our third tournament together, we're going to enjoy it and embrace every single moment," said Xu.

"We've got two very experienced and good doubles players, it'll be tough, but I think we're ready just to go out and enjoy the moment."