Grateful Katie Boulter insists her Olympic experience will stay with her for the rest of her life despite crashing out of the women’s singles in Paris.

The Leicester ace, 27, suffered a 6-4 6-2 first round defeat against slick Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova at Roland-Garros on Sunday afternoon.

But Boulter has been having a blast on her precious Olympic debut, immersing herself in the environment and throwing herself into the action on the Seine-cruising Team GB boat at Friday night’s rain-soaked opening ceremony.

The world No.34 has made memories to last a lifetime and hopes to elongate her stay in the French capital when she takes to the famous red clay alongside Heather Watson in the doubles this week.

She said: “It’s been an incredible experience all week.

“I’m not feeling too great right now but I’m sure I’ll pick myself up and look after myself for the next couple of days.

“Honestly I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it – it’s been an experience I will never ever forget in any way, shape or form.

“To represent your country in any way is such a privilege for me, so I hope I get to do it many more times.

“We’ve met quite a few of the different sports which is super interesting for me to learn from.

“It’s definitely been a special experience.

“We were all on the boat at the opening ceremony, throwing ourselves into the situation and enjoying every second of it.

“Doubles will pick me up – Heather will get me back out there, so I’m really looking forward to that.”

Boulter has endured a topsy-turvy summer and was beaten in a battle of the Brits thriller by Harriet Dart in the second round at Wimbledon.

But she immediately vowed to use that heartbreak as additional motivation for the Olympics as she joined the Team GB ranks for the first time in her career.

Boulter was scheduled to play on the opening day of the Games but the drizzly Parisian conditions pushed her clash against Schmiedlova, ranked 36 places below her, back 24 hours.

She battled admirably on Court 11 but succumbed to a straight sets defeat against a player with considerably more experience on the unique surface.

Boulter added: “She’s obviously a very good player, established on the clay court and knows how to play on them.

“She was more solid than me today and credit to her for getting over the line.”

“Heather is the best teammate I can ask for in the doubles, such an asset to our team and always nice to have her.”

Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics.