Rising British star Paul Jubb says he can "definitely can win at this level" after losing to experienced Portuguese opponent Joao Sousa in the first round of Wimbledon.
The 19-year-old was given a wild card after becoming the first British player to win the prestigious NCAA title in late May - the top honour for anyone playing American college tennis - and then impressing throughout the grass-court warm-up events in Surbiton and the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne.
Jubb's story has garnered plenty of attention, the boy raised by his grandmother on a Hull council estate after losing both his parents. His father, Shaun, a soldier in the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire, serving in Bosnia and Northern Ireland, took his own life soon after he was born.
His Kenyan mother Jacinta also died in hospital while he was still young. He prefers not to talk about his parents, but honours their memory by wearing a large tattoo of their names on his left side.
Jubb was watched by a number of family members, including his grandmother Val on Tuesday, but there was to be no fairytale for the teenager, ultimately going down to Sousa, ranked 69, 6-0 6-3 6-7 (8-10) 6-1.
"I definitely feel like I belong at this level, definitely can win at this level. Now it's just obviously tough to jump from one level to the other straightaway. It's not going to happen straightaway," he said.
"I think just the more I play at this level, the more I'll be able to manage the matches. Once you give these guys an inch, it's not easy to get back in. There's very little margin. There's some positives to take from this match, for sure. I've just got to learn, that's the most important thing, get better."
Jubb, ranked 431, will take a couple of weeks off after playing doubles with Jack Draper at the All England Club before planning a professional schedule until January, when he is due to return to the University of South Carolina to finish his studies.
Because he is an amateur, Jubb is unable to collect the £45,000 in prize money for first-round losers.
He will re-evaluate at the end of the year but expects to return to college, saying: "If I'm doing really well, maybe there's a possibility [I'll turn professional]. But I'm certainly not feeling like I'm in a rush to go into the pro tour yet."