HEAD TO HEAD Laura Robson - Tennis Player
Home is Where the Grass Is
Laura Robson is currently ranked at number 38 on the WTA and Number 1 in Britain and at only 19 years of age she has more than enough time to climb into the World top 10. Having developed a reputation as a player who can handle the big occasion it surely won’t be long until she starts challenging the more established ladies on a regular basis. With Wimbledon fast approaching, Laura will be looking to call on her many previous successes at SW19 to put in a performance that will reignite the kind British sporting passion seen at last year’s Olympics. Carl Leo spoke to Laura about her expectations at Wimbledon and what it is that has helped her to some of her famous victories.
ith almost a year having passed since your silver medal at the Olympics, what are the enduring memories of taking part in the Games for you?
I was playing really well during the Olympics and enjoying my tennis and I took that feeling in to the next couple of tournaments. At the moment I’m just trying to be confi dent when I’m on court, enjoy myself and try to replicate the good feelings and play in the same kind of way that I was during the Olympics.
Have you set yourself a specifi c target for Wimbledon this year? What kind of result do you expect and what would constitute success
at the tournament for you? I haven’t really thought about results or what I would consider to be a successful tournament that much to be honest. I think I’m just going to
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take things match by match, otherwise you end up putting too much pressure on yourself and that really does start to show up on court in your performances.
Do you ever feel the pressure on you or other Brits from the public at
Wimbledon is somewhat unrealistic? I think the pressure from their respective national media is bad for any player who’s playing in their home Grand Slam. You just have to get on with it and do your own thing, you can relax in the evening at home which is nice. We are privileged to have Wimbledon as our home tournament though so taking a bit of pressure from the media is something I don’t really mind.
You were obviously made aware of your statements regarding Venus Williams in 2008 before your match against her this year in Rome. Did this play on your mind at all before the match and were you relieved to
beat her given those statements? What statement was that?
You said you would “take her down” Ha I said it when I was 14 so I don’t think it really counts as anything! The Williams sisters are two players I’ve always wanted to play against so it was great to play both of them in one week. Unfortunately Venus isn’t at the optimum health level at the moment
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