Australian teenager Jessica Moore remained upbeat despite being overpowered by big-hitting German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-1 6-3 in the second round of the US Open today.
"To be honest I think today was probably the hardest match I've played," said Moore, who turned 18 earlier this month and recorded her first senior overseas grand slam win by beating Melanie Oudin on Tuesday.
"I can definitely learn a lot from it.
"It's tough to back it up. I was pretty happy when I won my first round but I couldn't be too excited because of having to focus on this. My opponent today played really well I thought."
Moore admitted that she struggled to cope with the pace of Groenefeld's hitting.
The German had to qualify for this US Open but has been ranked as high as 14 in the world.
"I was constantly under pressure today, which is why she has been 14 in the world," Moore said.
"She has got a very aggressive game and a very aggressive serve.
"I thought I did the best I could on the day but I'm going to work towards handling it a bit better.
"Being able to absorb the opponents power is something that I'm working on at the moment and that is something that came up a few times today.
"It's about being able to realise just how much faster the ball is coming to you and being able to react well enough.
"She hits it pretty hard. She's a great player."
The West Australian has had an outstanding junior career and was runner-up in the girls event at this year's Australian Open but has been making a gradual transition to the professional circuit this season.
She won a round in the women's event at Melbourne Park and made her Fed Cup debut during the Australian summer and then built on that success with impressive results on the women's circuit, including a tournament victory in Rome in July.
She has recorded a 16-11 win-loss record this year, which is a respectable record for a young player making the leap into the big time.
Her ranking has risen from 379 at the end of last year and, thanks to her first round win over Oudin at Flushing Meadows, it is likely to rise again from its current mark of 178.
Moore admits that life in the professional ranks is a big step up.
"There were probably a lot of cheap errors on my behalf today, which is probably the big difference in the transition between juniors and seniors," she said.
"That's definitely something I'm going to be working on and looking to improve on.
"Going from the juniors to the seniors is a big learning curve.
"I've learned so much in the last few months of playing Challengers rather than juniors.
"You get a real feel for it when you are amongst it all the time.
"It is a big difference, I must admit, but it's good because you are always being challenged and that's why we play the game.
"I'm very happy with the way that my game is going. I'm improving a lot and obviously my ranking is rising pretty well but I've obviously got a lot to work on, which is also exciting."
Next up for Moore is a well-earned break back home in Australia.
"I've been away for about four months and I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends," she said.
"I'm not sure where my ranking is going to be after this week but I'll be playing a few challengers after that and hopefully some bigger tournaments mixed in."
Results from US Open today
Men
Rd 2
16-Gilles Simon (FRA) bt Jose Acasuso (ARG) 6-4 6-1 6-4.
LL-Flavio Cipolla (ITA) bt Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) 6-1 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4.
Mardy Fish (USA) bt 24-Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 6-2 3-6 6-3 6-4.
6-Andy Murray (GBR) bt Michael Llodra (FRA) 6-4 1-6 7-5 7-6(7).
9-James Blake (USA) bt Steve Darcis (BEL) 4-6 6-3 1-0 ret.
4-David Ferrer (ESP) bt Q-Andreas Beck (GER) 4-6 7-5 6-3 7-6(5).
10-Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) bt Wayne Odesnik (USA) 6-4 7-6(6) 6-2.
Kei Nishikori (JPN) bt Roko Karanusic (CRO) 6-1 7-5 ret.
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) bt Jiri Vanek (CZE) 6-0 6-2 6-2.
Women
Rd 2
Q-Anna-Lena Gronefeld (GER) bt WC-Jessica Moore (AUS) 6-1 6-3.
30-Ai Sugiyama (JPN) bt Olga Govortsova (BLR) 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1.
16-Flavia Pennetta (ITA) bt Peng Shuai (CHN) 6-2 6-7(8) 6-1.
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) bt 13-Agnes Szavay (HUN) 5-7 6-2 6-3.
7-Venus Williams (USA) bt Q-Rossana De Los Rios (PAR) 6-0 6-3.
17-Alize Cornet (FRA) bt Bethanie Mattek (USA) 7-6(5) 6-1.
27-Alona Bondarenko (UKR) bt Sabine Lisicki (GER) 6-4 1-6 6-4.
18-Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) bt Q-Raluca Olaru (ROU) 6-2 6-2.
6-Dinara Safina (RUS) bt Q-Roberta Vinci (ITA) 6-4 6-3.
9-Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) bt LL-Mariana Duque (COL) 6-0 7-6(3).
Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) bt Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) 6-3 6-2.
WC-Severine Bremond (FRA) bt 20-Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) 7-5 6-3.
19-Nadia Petrova (RUS) bt Q-Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) 6-4 6-2.