Paul Jubb insisted he is ready to regularly compete against the very best despite falling to defeat in a marathon first-round Wimbledon encounter.
Jubb looked set to seal his maiden win at a Grand Slam when he raced into a two-set lead against Thiago Seyboth Wild but the Brazilian took full advantage of a rain delay in the third to reel the Brit in and produce 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 halted by the weather to end Jubb’s hopes of a Slam win at the first hurdle in SW19.
But Jubb is refusing to be too downbeat about his early exit, and believes his grass-court form this summer that saw him beat world No.14 Ben Shelton last month, is evidence of his ability to mix it at the top.
“This is definitely where I feel I belong,” he said. “My level is there, I can compete in the top 100 and beat top 100 guys but I have been injured, had to start from scratch so I have got to work my way up which I am doing now.
“Hopefully the past results I have had, the performances I am consistently putting out on court shows what I am capable of, where my level is and where I belong.
“It’s good to get rewarded for the hard work you put in. That was the main thing, the people who are with me daily and I myself know what level I am capable of and what I produce day in, day out.
“It’s there and to actually do it and get rewarded for it was great. It was a huge positive and a big confidence boost. Hopefully I keep trending in that direction and more good things will hopefully come.”
Jubb showed plenty of that ability early on at the All England Club, as the 24-year-old dropped just four games en route to opening up a two-set lead.
He came close to wrapping up the contest in the minimum three sets but was unable to halt the burgeoning momentum of his Brazilian opponent.
Jubb is on the LTA’s Pro Scholarship Programme, presented by Lexus, the highest level of support for developing players aged 16-24, designed to help them crack the Top 100.
However, while he was left to rue a missed opportunity to scratch a big item off his tennis bucket list, he was not too disheartened with the manner of his marathon defeat.
“That’s the main thing that is hanging over my head. I really wanted to tick that one off the list, it [winning at Wimbledon] is one of my childhood dreams,” he reflected. “To be one point away is brutal.
“That’s the thing that’s in my mind right now but it is what it is. All you can do is keep moving forward from it, I am on a positive trend so I will keep working hard.
“I don’t think I played much worse, I maintained a decent level throughout the majority of the match but the biggest difference was he started serving well. To break him became a lot tougher.
“He was hitting the spots and I didn’t quite serve as well as I could today. As the match went on he made it tougher for me to break and that made it tougher for me and he started to gain more momentum.
“You are obviously aware of the momentum shift and you try and do your best to put a stop to it but in the moment I was able to stay present and do my best. Credit to him the way he was able to produce as it went on and not give me as many looks as what I had earlier on.”
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website
