Just back from the huge enjoyment of seeing our British women live at Wimbledon and have been reading the blogs and comments from everyone else, with great interest. I don't know how different it is seeing stuff live and on TV, but I do think sometimes you pick up a different vibe when you are actually there or not.

It is interesting how negative everyone was about Laura's performance - the first thing that struck me about the match was how Haddad Maia played nerveless tennis on all the big points - she just didn't give Laura a chance of breaking her serve - even when Haddad Maia lost the first couple of points in games, she then followed it by superb rallies, aces and fault free tennis - I knew Haddad Maia was good, but what struck me from my front row corner seat on court (where I always sit given the choice) was that Haddad Maia has a truly great temperament. Looking back on the five British women - Robson definitely had the worst draw of the five - I don't think she is on the scrapheap yet, but clearly getting over those injuries and getting back form, confidence and ranking points will be a long haul - her opponent had a much higher ranking, but Laura knows the level she was at 4 years ago, so she shouldn't give up yet.

I also watched Naomi play and again, her opponent played some good tennis once she had settled - Naomi played some great shots in the first set, but it seems that when under pressure, she retains the power but maybe goes for her shots too much and due to pressure, tightens up and misses too much - at one stage she commented to her coach, who was sat three people away from me that "her serve is awful", meaning obviously that she was struggling to deal with Begu's serve - I think Begu was mixing it up quite a bit and that's always tricky. I still feel Naomi may be a late developer - she has the body, strength, athleticism and physique of a really top player, but sometimes still looks surprisingly raw for someone her age, but with her beanpole frame, I think she will stay athletic and competitive for many years to come, so no lost hope there, and I won't be surprised if her best years are still ahead of her.

I can't comment on either Heather or Johanna as they were on other courts while Broady was playing - shame as I had a Court 2 ticket to see Heather.

Today my bleary eyes enjoyed a great performance from Katie - I think she looked better than McHale for the first half of the match, and although McHale shifted into a vastly different gear at the end of the second and the third sets, Katie will now know that she is good enough to compete with the top 100 - I think she will have learnt that she needs to up her game against better opponents to close out matches like this, but I still see lots of reasons for optimism, rather than pessimism, and she is still very much an up and coming youngster.

I feel that she, Katie Swan and Harriet Dart give us three really exciting, truly good prospects, who have excellent chances of making the top 100 - it isn't to say that we don't have others, but I feel that these three are not that far away from making the jump in the next 12 to 15 months.

Anyway with three losses for the matches I saw, I was something of  an unlucky mascot, so it's a relief to be back home now, to not cause Heather or Johanna any bad luck in Round 2,  and to get some sleep in a proper bed after three days with no kip.