Heather Watson had never experienced the ups and downs of the day which Wimbledon threw at her on Friday and on Saturday, Fleet Street gave her acres of unrelenting coverage of her attempt to defeat world No.1 Serena Williams on Centre Court.
"Hell for Heather," said The Sun. "Game of her life," said The Guardian. "You are unbelievable," the Daily Telegraph quoted Serena of saying of her win over three enthralling sets.
It was one of those days that Wimbledon is fully capable of producing and Kevin Mitchell reflected that in The Guardian.
"Three sets of incomparable drama," he called it. "To lose the way she did, with quiet elan and sustained skill under intense pressure, leaving every sweat-drop of effort on court during two and a quarter hours against possibly the best player in the history of the women's game - such a British defeat - was a victory in itself."
In The Sun, Dan King wrote: "They say never meet your heroes. Heather Watson almost beat hers. Serena Williams was once a poster on Watson's bedroom wall in Guernsey, a sporting goddess from another world. But when the British No.1 faced Williams in the flesh for the first time, she discovered she was human after all."
In the Daily Telegraph, Oliver Brown bracketed the deeds of Heather Watson with those of the England team in reaching the semi-finals of the Women's World Cup in Canada.
"Where Laura Bassett had led on a football field in Edmonton, a young lady from Guernsey ultimately followed on a febrile Centre Court, but not before producing a career-defining display that put the nation through more than two hours of near-unbearable teatime tension."
Serena Williams saluted the day: "She was playing so good, there was nothing I could do. Anyone playing like that I have to give them credit. That was my toughest match on Centre Court, playing Heather in front of her home crowd. She should have won. She gave her all and showed what a great player she is. She should aim beyond the top 20 in the rankings. She is playing really well and she should set her goals higher."
Watson summed up: "I just saw her as an opponent that was in the way of me and my goals. I wanted to make the fourth round of Wimbledon. I wanted to win on the Centre Court. It didn't matter who it was against. I'm really disapointed that I didn't achieve my goal this week. I still have another opportunity later on in the year. It was a tough, tough ask today. But I was super, super close, I think that's what really hurts."