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 yesterday's 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 from Bratislava.

She re-emarged on Centre Court after treatment on her left thigh, matching the heavy strapping on the left thigh 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 one and 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 today was a wild card into the 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 groundstokes well and also showed better anticipation after seeming to have a problem with that thigh injury early doors.

She said: "It was a very tough match. Rebecca played really well and my leg is sore, and 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 last 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."

There were six breaks of serve in the first 11 games of the women's final today, with Rodina breaking in the first, fifth and seventh games of the first set and the opening game of the second set, while Sramkova broke in the second and sixth games of the first set.

The Slovak was broken again in the fifth game of the second set and, although she saved those four match points in a long seventh game to trail 5-2, there was no way back for the plucky youngster.