Emily Webley-Smith spent more than two hours trying to prove there really is strength in depth in the British women's game, only to be denied a Wimbledon first-round victory by Klara Zakopalova.
Webley-Smith, from Bristol, is No244 in the world but thanks to a wild card was making her second appearance in the main draw.
At 26 years old, she is not part of the next generation of would-be stars led by Heather Watson and Laura Robson but showed enough court craft to suggest that she can still break into the world's top 200 despite losing 6-3, 5-7, 8-6.
Zakopalova has beaten Serena Williams in a career that has seen the Czech reach No27 in the world and her current ranking of No35 puts her just outside the seeds at Wimbledon.
That is a measure of how well Webley-Smith played on Court 14 in the gathering gloom. She said: "I'm proud of that performance. I played well and I put my game on the court, which is what I went out to do. But I'm absolutely gutted to lose. I could have won and made opportunities for myself."
Meanwhile, British No2 James Ward found experienced French 19th seed Michael Llodra too tough to handle, losing 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, and has challenged himself to attain the performance level that allowed him to reach the semi-finals at Queen's Club last week.
He said: "I have proved to myself and to others that I can beat players on a consistent basis."
Daniel Cox fell to Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky, ranked 46 in the world, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 while Dan Evans also went out after being beaten by Florian Mayer, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2004 and seeded No 20, in four sets, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
