LUCA Pow saw his Wimbledon dream come to an end at the first hurdle after the Solihull prospect lost in the first qualifying round at SW19.
Pow was simply no match for experienced Dutch opponent Gijs Brouwer as the teenager lost 6-3, 6-1 on Court 15 in his second qualification event having debuted last year.
And whilst 18-year-old Pow was unhappy with some aspects of his game, the teenager hopes to come back stronger at Junior Wimbeldon next week.
Pow said: “I felt a bit uneasy and obviously the guy I played was better than me overall. I just found it tough out there to play. My tennis didn’t really come through today, which wasn’t too good.
“He mainly just kept solid, kept consistent, kept slicing it, kept covering the court. I was struggling to serve, to get it in, and the balls were coming in fast. It was tough for me just to control the ball really.
“Two years running for qualifiers is unbelievable, my summer build-up has been pretty good, I’ve come back here and I’ve had a lot of training on the grass.
“It was really good to come here again. I’ve got Junior Wimbledon next week. I’m looking forward to it – I’ve had a lot of prep on grass, and I’ll go back to training, and we’ll go again.”
Pow, who trains at the LTA’s National Academy in Loughborough, was a wildcard entrant in this year’s championships after defending his under-18 LTA Junior National title in April.
Opponent Brouwer is just outside of the world’s top-150 in the ATP rankings and reached the second round of the US Open singles tournament last year.
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