REBECCA Sramkova could not quite complete a fairy-tale week in the AEGON Ilkley Trophy.

The hard-hitting 19-year-old from Slovakia won three matches in qualifying and four in the main draw but came up short in the final of the $50,000 ITF Women's Pro Circuit tournament.

World No 242 Sramkova was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by second seed Evgeniya Rodina of Russia in a 91-minute clash that was interrupted by a medical time-out for the tall blonde player from Bratislava.

She re-emerged on Centre Court after treatment with matching heavy strapping on her left thigh to that of her 27-year-old Muscovite opponent.

Sramkova confessed: "I over-stretched a bit in getting the injury but I made too many unforced errors overall."

When she got it right, the 5ft 10in Sramkova – who was playing her only grass-court tournament of the summer – was impressive but too often she sprayed the ball long or into the tramlines.

She said: "I played three grass-court tournaments last year and didn't do well, so next week I am playing a $25,000 tournament in Rome on clay."

While there was mental and physical pain for Sramkova, there was physical pain and mental joy for Rodina.

The world No 113's reward for winning was a wild card into next week's women's singles at Wimbledon and she revealed: "I was trying not to think about that during the match as it was making me nervous."

Rodina, whose first and second serve looked vulnerable to the powerful ball-striking of Sramkova, controlled her ground-stokes well and also showed better anticipation after seeming to have a problem with that thigh injury early on.

She said: "It was a very tough match. Rebecca played really well and my leg is sore. I got nervous after missing those four match points when I was leading 5-1 in the second set – but she was playing well.

"I was a bit confused and nervous but I managed to stay focused."

Rodina, who has a three-year-old daughter Anna with her husband and coach Denis Shteyngart, admitted that she gained confidence from reaching the quarter-finals at Rosmalen in the Netherlands the previous week, defeating Jelena Jankovic along the way.

The Russian said: "You always gain confidence when you beat players such as Jelena, who is world-ranked 24 and is a former world No 1."