Teary Mel South admits to Wimbledon regrets

MEL South was left in tears after her Wimbledon tennis campaign ended in virtual darkness.

South's recent form has seen her qualify automatically for the Australian and French Open.

She's taken time out in recent weeks to focus on improving her fitness and has fallen down the rankings as a result.

And her hard work in the gym didn't pay dividends as she narrowly lost 7-5, 7-6 to France's world number 86 Mathilde Johansson on court one - her first appearance on one of Wimbledon's show courts.

"I'm pretty gutted that I lost that match," she said.

"Going in there everything was going well for me, I'd prepared really well and I felt really strong going into the match.

"I felt good going on to court one. I'm really upset with myself that I didn't really perform like I know I can and show what I can do.

"I've worked really hard in the last couple of months and I couldn't really put that into my play.

"The late schedule didn't help me but it was the same for everyone and I'm not going to complain about it."

South's focus will now be to climb the rankings again, having reached a career high 99 in February.

"In terms of my career, I've only just started the hard training that is specific to me and I've made a lot of gains over the last couple of months," she added.

"By next year, I'll be in the best physical shape of my career and I think I'll be able to develop my tennis even further and show that I have got huge potential.

"Wimbledon is the tournament everyone focuses on and that's why I'm so disappointed to lose - but I'll be back stronger next year."

 * 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