Rising star Robson marches on into juniors semi-final
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The day after Andy Murray bowed out as the last British representative in the grown-up singles here, Laura Robson announced herself as the next budding talent upon whom a nation can shovel its inflated expectations.
The 14-year-old, born in Australia but resident in London since the age of six, fought her way into the semi-finals of the girls' singles yesterday by coming from a break down in each set to beat Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski, 7-5, 6-4.
Robson has not dropped a set here yet, and one of her scalps was the No 1 seed, Melanie Ouden, who beat her in a warm-up event final just last Saturday.
Taking the stage in the main press conference room for only the second time, Robson – a feisty but well spoken youngster who plays saxophone in her rare spare time – said she was taking steps to mind her on-court language.
"I'm watching what I say because yesterday I made a comment which I shouldn't have about how I thought one of the umpires wasn't really seeing that well," she said. "And then I got a couple of texts after the match saying: 'I don't think you should have said that.' So I have to watch what I say a bit more."
Robson is considered one of the brightest British prospects in her age group; Carl Maes, the LTA's head of women's tennis and a former coach to Kim Clijsters, says Robson hits the ball as well at 14 as Clijsters did. Robson, based at the LTA's National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, now faces Slovakia's Romana Tabakova for a place in tomorrow's final. "If I can win, then that would be amazing. But I must not get ahead of myself. I was looking to reach the quarters. So semis is really, really good."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments