In gathering darkness British rising stars take their Wimbledon bow

THE sun was a long way over the yardarm before the British players started appearing on Wimbledon's outside courts.

ENCOURAGING SIGNS: Josh Goodall was making Michael Llodra work at Wimbledon before bad light stopped play (Getty Images)

In a strange and questionable quirk of scheduling James Ward, Melanie South, Josh Goodall and Georgie Stoop all started their campaigns in the gathering dusk - deprived of the mass ranks of home support that can often make the difference.

This year the Lawn Tennis Association have been rightly tougher with their players, insisting a place in the world's 250 was the minimum requirement for a wildcard place.

Players who have too long promised much but failed to deliver anything have been pushed aside in favour of those the LTA hope will fly the sport's standard alongside Andy Murray and Laura Robson.

James Ward insists he will be a stronger player for the experience after he was dispatched in straight sets by world number seven Fernando Verdasco.

He got better during the course of his 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 defeat and later admitted nerves played their part.

"It was my first grand slam appearance and my first match at Wimbledon - of course I was going to be a bit nervous going into the match," said Ward, who is currently ranked at a career-high 207 in the world.

"But I'll look back on this as a great experience and hopefully I can learn from it and come back a stronger player next year.

"It is games like this that I play tennis for. I'd much rather be playing a top player on the show-courts than playing on court 15 in front of 20-odd people.

"I got better as the game went on and I can take a lot of heart from that. Verdasco's a top player and he played the big points well, as you would expect.

"But I'll return to the Futures tour full of confidence and if I can use whatever I've picked up here, then I should win some matches this season."

British number two Goodall took the first set off Michael Llodra but then saw his French opponent take a second set tie-break to level proceedings before bad light forced a halt to play.

Georgie Stoop will also come back on Tuesday after brilliantly leveling her match with seventh seed Vera Zvonareva.

Stoop lost the first set on a tie-break but then broke the experienced Russian to snatch the second.

However, British women's number two Melanie South was beaten by France's Mathilde Johansson over two close fought sets, losing 7-5, 7-6 in virtual darkness.

 * Leading life assurance and pensions company AEGON is lead partner of British Tennis and is backing the sport at all levels, from grassroots to world class tennis events. For further information visit www.lta.org.uk