Jodie Burrage suffered a bitter defeat on her main draw debut at the Australian Open as a promising start against Tamara Korpatsch ended in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 loss on Sunday afternoon.
Burrage, the British No 2, had opened the contest playing excellent attacking tennis, dominating from inside the baseline with her superior pace and weight of shot and smothering Korpatsch’s weak second serve.
From the beginning of the second set though, Korpatsch demonstrated her greater experience by cutting down on her errors, chasing down balls and lengthening their exchanges. The 28-year-old made it extremely difficult for Burrage to hit through her defence and as the wind began to move the ball around, Burrage’s game quickly unravelled.
“I found it tough to serve in that wind,” said Burrage. “I tried to adjust as much as possible, but yeah, when you hit a bigger ball I guess and don’t grind it out, when it gets windy, it’s not as easy to play, but that’s just what I need to learn to do. I need to learn to have a bit of a plan B because there was no plan B there today.”
Once Korpatsch took control of the match, the No 81 faced minimal resistance as she tore through the final seven games. Burrage said that the brisk ending was a reflection of her lack of self-confidence.
“If I’m honest, I’ve struggled with that my whole career. I’ve probably said it before. And especially in a match like today when someone just stops missing and puts balls in court, it’s not easy to have the confidence to hit through them, and that’s what I need to learn – back myself on the court because at the moment I don’t in those situations.”
After breaking into the top 100 last year, the now No 102-ranked Burrage must consolidate her spot at the top level of the sport and ensure that she does not fall back down to the ITF Circuit. Falling in a winnable grand slam match against an unseeded opponent is undoubtedly a missed opportunity. Yet Burrage said that she must learn from such defeats in order to continue moving forward.
“I know I’m 24, which in tennis age isn’t that young, but for me I’m a newbie coming up to this level,” she said. “I’m still learning week in, week out. It is a tough level. If you’re not on top of your game, if you’re not there mentally at certain points, it’s not good enough. It’s learning off the top players. I’m constantly looking around, looking at what other people are doing, watching matches a lot more.
“I think it’s just giving myself a little bit of time to learn and take all of the experiences and bank them. It’s the first time I’ve been here, so just trying to learn as much as possible from these players and the matches that I get.”
