Former British number one Tim Henman has told Heather Watson that she can take "great confidence" from the way in which she exited Wimbledon.
The 23-year-old was dumped out of the competition by Serena Williams following a 6-2 4-6 7-5 thriller on Centre Court tonight.
Watson led 3-0 in the deciding set, and was also serving for the match, but the 20-time Grand Slam champion used all of her experience to thwart the young Briton.
Nevertheless, Henman says that she can be proud of her performance, which he claims is an insight into what she is capable of producing in the long-term.
"In the short term she will be disappointed but when she is able to take a step back and review it and see how her game has improved, and see how she went toe-to-toe with the best player in the world in the biggest tournament, it will give her great confidence," he told BBC Sport.
"She just embraced the whole occasion and she will take so many great points from this match."
Williams will face sister Venus in the next round.
Shane Callaghan
