Nathalie Dechy said she had no regrets about her loss to Lindsay Davenport in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Thursday despite knowing she could have won the match.
The 19th seeded Frenchwoman was two points away from the biggest moment of her career when she won the opening set and led 5-4 in the tiebreak. Then things suddenly went wrong.
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"I was close to winning that match," Dechy said. "But I don't regret anything. I played a really good match. I did the best I could."
Dechy had never been past the fourth round of a Grand Slam in a decade as a professional until her golden run here in Melbourne.
She stunned French Open champion Anastasia Myskina in the fourth round then beat 12th seed Patty Schnyder in the quarter-finals to earn a meeting with Davenport.
The 25-year-old said she was not overawed by playing in the semi-finals but said Davenport's big-match experience was a decisive factor.
"Maybe she handled the tight moments a little bit better than I did," Dechy said.
"She's able to play such a high quality level of tennis and on the really close points, she was serving really well, she was going completely for them and making some good shots.
"That's why she's there at the top. That's why she's so tough to play on hard court.
"You can always replay the match and redo the match 10 times, but it's over. I did the best I could and I'm really happy about this experience."