Anton Matusevich insists he will focus on the positives after falling at the final hurdle in his pursuit of Wimbledon qualification.

The Sevenoaks star, 23, looked on course to progress in his qualifying final against Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera, taking the first set 6-3, but the Chilean fought back to win the final two sets 6-4, 6-3, flipping the tie on its head and denying the Brit a first-ever Wimbledon appearance.

While a gutting loss, New York-born Matusevich has not lost sight of the value of the opportunity to play on Wimbledon’s hallowed courts.

“I played pre-qualifying at the event before and I had two really tough matches, saved four match points against another fellow Brit, so I'm obviously very lucky to be here,” he said.

“I decided to play pre-qualifying because my ranking was high and I had more confidence. It obviously feels really good to be here. Why would it not? It's Wimbledon.

“The grass was very nice today. Qualifying gets better and better every year, so big thanks to Wimbledon.”

While missing out on Wimbledon this time around, Matusevich is already versed with winning on Grand Slam courts - something he demonstrated as a junior, claiming the US Open boys’ doubles title in 2018 alongside Bulgaria’s Adrian Andreev.

Still very young in his tennis career, Matusevich isn’t beating himself up about falling short, fully aware of the difficulties that have arisen from balancing sport and with completing his UCL degree.

“The positives are that I played very good tennis for a set and a half, and that definitely gives me a bit of confidence against these guys,” he added, reflecting on his performance.

“The bad thing is that I need more matches. I currently study at university, so I don't play enough. The more I'll start playing, the more I'll be a bit more calm and focused on the court.

“I need to play some $25ks (tournaments), get some more points and play some Challengers with that as well.”

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