Banks takes positives despite missing out on Wimbledon

Bolton’s Amarni Banks took the positives from a remarkable Wimbledon Qualifying run after falling just short of the main draw.

Up against a strong opponent in Marina Stakusic, Banks lost 6-3 6-0 in the third and final round after brilliantly taking out Kristina Mladenovic and Kayla Day on her way to today’s encounter.

The calm and collected 21-year-old fashioned a gutsy showing on Court Three, broken at the first opportunity by the Canadian before coming back to make it 3-3 in the first set.

Enjoying a breakout grass-court season after securing her first senior win on the surface at the LTA’s Lexus Ilkley Trophy last week, the North West talent admitted her experience in Roehampton has lit the fire to come back next year.

She said: “Obviously, I’m disappointed but it’s been an amazing experience to play here, hopefully I’ll play here again next year and more years after that.

“Overall, I think I’ve had a positive week and I’ve definitely had a lot of experience playing at this level.

“One of my highlights has been being able to play in front of the crowd, a few days ago it was the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of.

“Just having that experience in front of everybody, the noise, it’s been really good, I feel like I feed off that so it was nice to have this week.”

As Banks, who started training at Bolton Arena at the age of four, looks to break into the top 250, her ambition to play among the world’s best has only got stronger this week.

Her determined effort on the grass courts have caught eyes in Roehampton and beyond as the wild card made the most of a golden opportunity on the surface.

Looking ahead to the rest of the year, she said: “I’ll have to sit down with my coach and plan out the schedule, hopefully, I’ll be playing more WTA events now and more Slams.

“With every match, I’m definitely getting more comfortable on it so with more practice on it, I’ll be getting better and better so I’m excited for the next grass-court season.

“I gave 100 per cent throughout the whole match, she was on form today, serving really well.

“I’ve had a good week so I’m happy with that.”

n For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website.