Winning Wimbledon return too much too soon for Whiley

Jordanne Whiley was able to put defeat into perspective after her dream return to Wimbledon singles action was ended by doubles partner Yui Kamiji.

Whiley pushed out onto the All England Club grass for the first time since 2017 following the birth of her son Jackson, but was thwarted by the Japanese number two seed 6-4 6-1.

The 27-year-old has won four Wimbledon doubles titles as well as the calendar grand slam in 2014 with Kamiji before taking maternity leave and the pair will be gunning for title once more when they take on Diede De Groot and Aniek Van Koot later this week.

“Sometimes I forget I have only been playing for six months and because I have done well I think I just expect to carry on doing well. I am in a weird limbo at the moment,” said Whiley.

“Yui is a great player and the world number two and you can’t afford to have an off day against her.

“She asked me if everything was okay and I told her that it wasn’t the way I wanted to play. She is such a good player but I know I can beat her so I am just disappointed.

“I haven’t played her since I came back and she has changed her game, so I need to try and take that into account.”

Whiley has targeted the Paralympic Games in Tokyo next year to get back to playing her best tennis as she continues to adapt her game after and get used to life as both a mother and an athlete.

“The end goal for me is Tokyo and that is the whole reason I came back into the sport so I have got just over a year to sort my game out now,” she added.

“There are aspects of my game like my forehand and my serve that I have had to change and so I expect them to be patchy and when you are an athlete you have to accept that you might go through periods where you don’t play well.”