The wait for a successor to Annabel Croft at the Australian Open goes on, after young Katie Swan was unable to summon sufficient powers of recovery after an epic semi-final, and lost to 16-year-old Tereza Mihalikova in the junior women's final. The 15-year-old struggled throughout and was eventually beaten 6-1 6-4 in Melbourne on the Rod Laver Arena.

It was a sad ending to what had been developing into quite a story, yet the teenager originally from Bristol, but now living in Kansas never looked capable of reproducing the form she had showed so promisingly in earlier rounds.

She was hampered during the final with a leg injury and no doubt still feeling some of the after effects from the hard fought win over Hungary's Dalma Galfi on Friday. During the Galfi match she had suffered from excruciatingly painful cramps, yet summoned her reserves to defy her opponent on that occasion by saving three match points, so she's certainly not a quitter. She had required extensive treatment after the semi-final match was completed.

The final lasted just short of ninety minutes, time enough for the young Brit to make 30 unforced errors on a breezy Australian afternoon, as her opponent dominated the game throughout, especially in the first set. Swan looked to be back in the game in the second set when leading 3-0, but then the leg injury became apparent as she required a timeout for medical assessment and treatment.

She never really recovered after the interruption to her momentum on her return, as Mihalikova re-asserted her control on the match. There was still time for the Brit to save match points on the Slovak's serve as she broke her to keep the match alive, but her own serve was broken in the next game to hand the victory to the older woman.

Swan emulated Laura Robson's achievement in reaching the final in Australia, but sadly she also matched her older compatriot in becoming a runner-up there also (Robson was a finalist in both 2009 and 2010). Robson had shown that there is a good camaraderie within the British camp at present, by sending Swan a message indicating her support prior to the match.

Swan also thanked the numerous other well-wishers she had received messages from via social media, as the nation got behind another prodigious young British Tennis talent.

Croft was the last British winner of the title way back in 1984 and in total there have only ever been four British winners, with Sue Barker in 1975 and Amanda Brown in both 1982 and 1983.

Another disappointment for Swan was no doubt the loss by her favourite player in women's tennis, Maria Sharapova to Serena Williams in the (senior) women's final, as she looks to progress to similar heights herself in the future.