PUNCTUAL to a fault, Katie O’Brien was the first player knocked out of Wimbledon – before the show courts had opened for business.
In the annual scramble to lower the Union Jack over the strawberry fields of SW19, O’Brien crashed out 6-0 7-5 as Japan’s Kimiko Date-Krumm, 40, became the third oldest woman to win a singles match in the tournament’s history.
Last year, the Brits hit a new 133-year low at the All England Club, wiped out – with the honourable exception of Andy Murray – in the first round.
And when wild-card O’Brien, ranked No.218 in the world, was bundled out in just 64 minutes by a housewife who had spent 12 years out of the game, it was the Land of Same Old Story.
We are assured of one British player in the women’s singles second round because Anne Keothavong and Naomi Broady, whose battle of Britain was rained off last night, have drawn each other.
But as O’Brien packed her bags, having missed a glorious chance to take on Venus Williams in round two, and headed for Henman Hill to drown her sorrows with her family and a nip of Pimms, she was forced to admit Date-Krumm made “mincemeat” of her powder-puff serve.
After the Duke of Kent had officially opened the new-look Court No.3, O’Brien didn’t recover after taking just six points in a dismal first set lasting only 17 minutes.
Elena Baltacha, Heather Watson and Laura Robson have provided glimpses of a meaningful return on the Lawn Tennis Association’s annual £25million subsidy, but O’Brien conceded: “Everyone has to accept British tennis isn’t where it should be really, although there’s no reason why it should stay that way.
“In previous years, maybe a lot of our players have been out of their depth here, but on the women’s side the players genuinely deserve to be here.
“The first set went by in a flash, quite literally. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to take that second set because I was starting to get the crowd behind me and I was getting more confident.
“If it had gone to a third set, I would have fancied my chances but I struggled on my serve and she was just making mincemeat of it. I felt like I was counter-punching all the time.
“A year or so ago I was seriously considering stepping away from the game, but it is my passion.
“It is a bit tough to be out of Wimbledon within an hour of play starting on the first Monday. Kimiko is a fantastic player on grass – she’s 40, but even now she’s a force to be reckoned with.
“I hope I’ll come back, but it’s no fun at the moment and I’ve got to be prepared to make some big improvements if I’m going to continue what I’m doing.
“I’m not enjoying life on the Challenger tour and there are days when you think, ‘Is it all worth it?’ But there are guys who would be dying to be in my position, playing at Wimbledon as many times as I have and travelling the world.”
Date-Krumm, who plays right-handed even though she is a natural southpaw, admitted: “I don’t care about age, but it’s 15 years since I played Steffi Graf in the semi-final and it was darkness. Then, after 15 years, I have won in the first round and it feels like a miracle.”
■Britain’s Daniel Cox dropped the first set 6-2 against Jamie Murray’s doubles partner, Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky, on Court 14 before rain intervened.