Paul Jubb ready to compete at highest level despite Wimbledon defeat

By James Reid

Paul Jubb has insisted he is ready to compete regularly with the best despite losing a marathon first-round encounter at Wimbledon.

Jubb looked set to seal his first Grand Slam victory when he took a two-set lead against Thiago Seyboth Wild, but the Brazilian took advantage of a rain interruption in the third set to catch the Briton and complete an impressive comeback.

Wild eventually won 1-6 3-6 7-6(8) 6-4 7-5 in a titanic four-hour battle that was twice interrupted by the weather to end Jubb’s hopes of winning a Grand Slam at the opening hurdle in SW19.

But Jubb refuses to be too pessimistic about his early exit, and believes his form on grass this summer, which saw him beat world number 14 Ben Shelton last month, is proof of his ability to compete at the highest level.

“That’s really where I feel like I belong,” he said. “My level is there, I can compete with the top 100 and beat the best, but I’ve been injured, I’ve had to start from scratch, so I have to work hard to improve, which is what I’m doing now.

“I hope that the results I have achieved in the past, the performances I regularly achieve on the court show what I am capable of, where my level is and where my place is.

“It’s nice to be rewarded for the hard work you put in. That was the main thing, the people who are with me on a daily basis and I know what level I am capable of and what I produce on a daily basis.

“It’s there and to do it and be rewarded for it was great. It was very positive and it gave me a lot of confidence. Hopefully I can continue in this direction and more good things will come.”

Jubb showed plenty of that talent early on at the All England Club, as the 24-year-old dropped just four games en route to a two-set lead.

He came close to winning the match in three sets minimum, but could not stop the growing momentum of his Brazilian opponent.

Jubb is part of the LTA Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus, the highest level of support for developing players aged 16-24, designed to help them reach the Top 100.

However, while he must have regretted a missed opportunity to cross off an important item on his tennis bucket list, he was not too discouraged by the manner in which he suffered his marathon defeat.

“That’s the main thing that’s been bothering me. I really wanted to tick that box off my bucket list, it’s one of my childhood dreams (to win Wimbledon),” he said. “To be one point away from winning is brutal.

“That’s what’s on my mind right now, but that’s the way it is. All I can do is keep moving forward, I’m on a positive trend, so I’m going to keep working hard.

“I don’t think I played much worse, I maintained a decent level for most of the match, but the biggest difference was that he started to serve well. The breaker became much more difficult.

“He hit hard and I didn’t serve as well as I could today. As the match went on he made it harder for me to break, which made it harder for me and he started to gain momentum.

“You’re obviously aware of the change in momentum and you try to do your best to stop it, but in the moment I was able to stay present and do my best. Credit to him for the way he was able to produce as he went along and not give me as many looks as I had earlier.”

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