Cavaday wins on disappointing day for British players

NAOMI Cavaday took a giant stride towards the main draw at Wimbledon after seeing off Rika Fujiwara 6-0, 6-3 at the qualifiers in Roehampton.

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The 20-year-old world number 286 was expected to crash out in the first round to her Japanese rival, who is a whooping 133 places higher in the WTA rankings, but Cavaday refused to crumble.

Just 12 months ago she was beaten by eventual champion Venus Williams on centre court at Wimbledon and she is now just two wins from another appearance at the All England Club.

"I came out really firing and I just wanted to take control because she is a really good player," said Cavaday. "I wanted to use the grass to my advantage and to really pin her back onto the court a bit.

"I really succeeded in the first set but to her credit in the second set she served much better and I had to dig in deep to pick up the win.

"I was serving very well but I still think I can tune it up a little bit and I should be a lot stronger for my second round game."

It was a very different story for fellow Brits Jade Curtis, Amanda Elliott, Naomi Broady, Elizabeth Thomas and Emily Webley-Smith, who all lost their first round matches.

Meanwhile, Dan Cox has vowed to go 'back to basics' after he missed out on a debut appearance at Wimbledon, following defeat in the second round of qualifying.

The 18-year-old British number 11 couldn't capitalise on his epic first round victory over Ireland's Conor Niland, exiting the event in straight sets to world number 154 Prakash Amritraj, 6-3, 6-3.

"I'm a bit disappointed with that to be honest - I was a bit too passive with my game," said Cox.

"I didn't really put him under any pressure and I didn't really feel good about my shots.

"I was hit and miss - either I was playing good and hitting some good shots or I was really bad and I couldn't really get the balance right.

"I need to realise that you don't have to do anything special. I was looking to play the perfect game and that's not what the big players do.

"The top people do the basics really well and I need to learn that."