Having secured his senior grand slam debut at Wimbledon, Australian tennis player Matt Reid hopes he can finally start to believe in himself.
“I’ve never really been the most confident person going around,” the 22-year-old from NSW told AAP.
“A lot of people have said it is one of my weaknesses but this will help my confidence a lot.
“I think now that I’ve done it, I’ll start to believe in myself a bit more.”
Reid earned his spot in the men’s draw after progressing through a gruelling qualifying campaign at Roehampton this week.
He showed brilliant mental determination in winning three tough matches, including a marathon opening-round win over Indian Somdev Devvarman that finished 18-16 in the final set.
Reid faced a match point in that encounter, and feared his Wimbledon dreams had slipped away.
“I honestly thought I was pretty much gone,” Reid said.
“But I just kept trying to fight as hard as I could and somehow I won it at the end.
“Obviously Wimbledon is the pinnacle of the sport and I didn’t expect to be here but I’m really happy that i get a chance to play now.
“I just tried to fight as hard as a could and somehow won it at the end, it was a pretty good feeling.”
Reid faces tough Czech veteran Radek Stepanek on Monday.
While he’s sure to benefit from the experience, he doesn’t want to simply make up the numbers.
“I’m just going to try and enjoy it but at the same time I’m pretty confident in the way I’m playing and I’m fighting pretty hard,” he said.