Britain’s wait for home champions in the girls’ doubles goes on for at least another year after Anna Brogan of Scotland and England’s Freya Christie were narrowly beaten in a high-quality semi-final on Saturday. The 17-year-old pair led 4-1 in the first set and recovered from 4-1 down in the second but were eventually beaten 6-4, 7-5 by Vera Lapko of Belarus and Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia, who have a chance to win their first grand slam title together, having missed out in the final at the US Open last summer.
Elizabeth Jelfs is the only Briton to win the title here, in 1994, but Brogan and Christie began well, racing to a 3-0 and 4-1 lead only to be hauled back. In the second set the pair recovered well and at 5-5 they had momentum but Mihalikova, who won the singles at this year’s Australian Open, and Lapko stepped up another gear to clinch victory.
“It’s gutting, to be honest,” Christie said. “When we look back we’ll think we had a good week and played some good tennis but right now I don’t think we’re too happy.”
Brogan made a small dent in Court No1 when she threw her racket in frustration at one stage. “It’s funny, in the coin toss the umpire says: ‘Please look after the court, it’s very important,’” she said. “I don’t throw my racket normally. To do that at Wimbledon’s probably not ideal. I’m not sure what my granny would have thought watching that.”
The Scot said she had barely slept the night before, so excited had she been at the prospect of playing for a place in the final. “I was absolutely buzzing, my adrenaline was going,” she said. “I was up from two in the morning till about four just thinking.”
The pair, who said they hoped to make it into the main draw next year, signed numerous autographs as they left the court. “That’s stuff you take to your grave, as cliched as it sounds,” Brogan said. “I’m going to remember that for the rest of my life. I had goosebumps walking out there.”
