DESPITE a relatively tame exit from the Ilkley Trophy, Yorkshireman Paul Jubb is looking forward to his Wimbledon debut.

The 19-year-old wild card, who was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by ninth seed Dennis Novak (Austria) in the ATP Challenger Tour event at Stourton Road, said of his forthcoming first appearance at SW19: “People around me have always said that I will embrace the big moments and I have always been a person like that.”

Jubb, who was born in York but raised in Hull from the age of three by his grandmother Valerie after his parents died young, added: “Growing up, Nadal was my hero but then it became Djokovic who I feel that I model my game around more.”

Having reached the last 16 at Ilkley after winning three-setters against Egor Gerasimov and eighth seed Thiago Monteiro, Jubb could not raise his game or engage a large crowd as he again played on Centre Court.

Jubb, who became the first Briton to win the NCAA title, said of the Novak match: “You obviously have to play these players to learn from them and I definitely learnt a lot from that match, but there is a lot of disappointment there because I didn’t get to the stage where I could get into the match, and I will have a chat about it with my coach.

“In my previous two matches I have got some momentum even though I lost the first set.

“But it has been really nice to play in front of the Centre Court crowd and I feel the love and it has been nice to play in Yorkshire.”

Jubb, who hasn’t played on grass in two years, added: “It has been good to play these past few weeks because the more that I play them the better I will be.

“I need to improve my serve and my physicality because I am very skinny but I feel that mentally that I am strong after what has happened to me, and my forehand is good.

“It has made me who I am and made me a stronger person, and I have always been good at bouncing back.”

Jubb, who will play world-ranking tournaments up until Christmas to try and improve his 579 before resuming college commitments with South Carolina State University, who he represented to win the NCAA title, had to make a choice between football and tennis when he was younger.

He said: “When I was very young there was talk of having trials with Hull City as a left-sided midfielder but then tennis was taking over.

“My mates didn’t really understand tennis then but they asked questions about it and they understand it better now.

“It was a huge decision to go to South Carolina, but college tennis is a route that more people are taking to get into professional tennis and it worked for me straightaway.

“I enjoy being by myself but also love the team situation so can embrace both.”

The men’s and women’s singles semi-finals are due today, along with the doubles finals, with the men’s and women’s singles finals tomorrow.