Monfils has too much experience for Kasiri

Miles Kasiri, the first Briton to play in the boys' singles final here since 1972, raised his game for the occasion yesterday, but lost in straight sets to France's Gaël Monfils, 7-5, 7-6.

Miles Kasiri, the first Briton to play in the boys' singles final here since 1972, raised his game for the occasion yesterday, but lost in straight sets to France's Gaël Monfils, 7-5, 7-6.

There was no shame in that. Monfils, a rangy, elastic athlete who bears a passing resemblance to the Costa Rican footballer Paulo Wanchope, had already won the junior titles at the Australian Open and the French Open this year. He is the world No 1 and was the No 1 seed here.

Kasiri, an 18-year-old from Margate, entered the tournament unseeded and ranked No 39 on the junior circuit. Although he won the junior Stella Artois last month, no one apart from him was expecting comparative progress at Wimbledon, where the last home winner in the event was Stanley Matthews Jnr. The son of the great England footballer won the trophy 42 years ago. The last British finalist was Buster Mottram, who lost to Bjorn Borg 32 years ago.

While there was no shame for Kasiri, there was a measure of regret at not taking some decent opportunities to gain the upper hand in a tight match.

"I know I had a lot of chances in the first set," he said afterwards. "I had set points and didn't convert them. In the second set I was up in the tie-break. It was so close. Just a couple of points here and there would have made the whole difference to the match. I could have won 7-6, 7-6 instead of him."

The statement above is true. But perhaps it does not give enough credit to Monfils, who, when it mattered on those crucial points, won them. That is one mark of a champion. Kasiri also made a series of errors that cost him dearly, albeit within the framework of an accomplished and powerful performance.

Kasiri worked towards a break point in the 10th game of the first set by mixing power and finesse. In one rally Monfils came to the net and volleyed repeatedly while Kasiri tried to pass him with successive double-handed drives.

The deadlock was broken when Kasiri sent a beautiful lob to a winning corner for 15-30 on Monfils' serve. Monfils double-faulted for 15-40 to hand Kasiri two break points. He wasted one by burying a forehand in the net and the other by shooting a loose shot wide of the line.

Monfils fired two aces for the game and then crucially broke Kasiri's serve. The Briton played some lovely tennis, including a point-winning backhand slice, to move to 40-30. But Monfils produced a cross-court winner, Kasiri blasted wide again and Monfils gained the break with a drive. He held for the set.

The second-set tie-break, won 8-6 by the Frenchman, swung in both players' favours at times but Kasiri's tendency to over-hit hurt his chances at an important time, while a double-fault on the penultimate point of the match showed his opponent had a slight mental advantage. Kasiri had shown fighting spirit, though, not least when breaking back after dropping his serve early in the second.

Kasiri has addressed the subject of toughness in several of his post-match interviews here, citing Nick Bollettieri's famous academy in Florida as the place where he toughened up, in all ways.

The young Briton spent four years at the academy before returning to England earlier this year and basing himself at Queen's club.

"[Today] gives me confidence because Monfils hasn't lost a match this year and is a very good player," Kasiri said. "I am on the right track, but also I have a lot of work to do before I can think about coming back here and having a chance against the pros, because it is such a big step."