Emma Raducanu batted back any suggestions that she was under pressure to perform at Wimbledon, after crashing out at the second-round stage.
Caroline Garcia knocked out the British teenager in straight sets on Centre Court but Raducanu insisted her US Open triumph last year should reduce the pressure on her.
“There's no pressure,” Raducanu told reporters. “Like, why is there any pressure? I'm still 19. It's a joke. I literally won a slam.
“Yes, I have had attention. But I'm a slam champion, so no one's going to take that away from me. If anything, the pressure is on those who haven't done that.”
Any notion of the side strain that plagued her in the build-up to the tournament was dismissed by Raducanu, who instead reiterated that she did not expect to reach the latter stages of this year’s Wimbledon.
On the injury, she added: “I didn't feel anything out there. I declared myself fully fit when I walked out onto the court on the first day.
“But I've played seven hours of tennis in a month. To even compete with these girls at this level and win a round I think is a pretty good achievement.
“Obviously it's tough to lose any match but I think that Caroline played a great match. She is a great player. I struggled to find a way through her today.
“But it's okay because, coming into this, I didn't really have many expectations of myself. Playing on Centre Court again was a really positive experience for me.”
