O'Brien bows out

Twenty-year-old Katie O’Brien began became the first Briton to go out of Wimbledon after frittering away a 6-2 3-1 lead against Italian Tathiana Garbin.

Instead of providing an appetiser for a feast of tennis for British fans on the second day of Wimbledon, O’Brien was a typical gallant loser as Garbin, the world number 68, came back to win 2-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-2.

Garbin, who is 29 on Friday, celebrated her birthday early by claiming her first win at Wimbledon at the seventh attempt after eventually getting to grips with the pacy surface.

Hull-born O’Brien, who was the first of 13 Britons in action on day two, took just 31 minutes to draw first blood in her first-round match held over from a rain-hit opening day.

The wild-card entry, who lost to Kim Clijsters a year ago when she combined playing in her first Wimbledon with A-levels, made a hesitant start against an opponent 167 places higher in the rankings, losing her opening service game.

But she broke back immediately and won nine points in a row to move into a 3-1 lead.

She then dropped her serve for the second time but took advantage of her opponent’s obvious discomfort on grass to break twice more and clinch the set.

Six of the first eight games went against serve but it was a different story early in the second set.

Garbin held serve for the first time as the first three games games all went with serve but was then broken for the fifth time in the match.

O’Brien dropped her serve in the next game but she was comfortable in the baseline rallies and outfought her opponent at the net to reestablish her dominant position.

The British girl was forced to dig deep in the ninth game, saving two break points as the set went to a tie break, but appeared to lose her nerve at the crucial time.

It was the Italian’s turn to show her mental toughness as she dominated the breaker to win it 7-2 and level the match.

The start of the third set was held up to allow Garbin to have treatment to her left thigh but the Italian played her best tennis of the match in the decider.

O’Brien’s disappointment in the tie-break appeared to have a demoralising effect and she twice hurled her racket into the ground after dropping her serve at the start of the third set.

With Garbin becoming more assured on her serve, there was little way back for the British girl as she trailed 3-0.

She produced a brief rally in a prolonged sixth game but without ever suggesting she could reproduce her stunning form from the opening set.