| Tuesday, 1 July 2008 Written by Henry Wancke Success breeds its rewards and for Laura Robson, following an imperious performance on Court 7 where she demolished the junior world number two and the top seed in straight sets, success meant facing the press in the imposing Championship’s main interview room.
Asked whether she felt more nervous sitting up there in the interviewees chair or on court surrounded by over 500 spectators cheering her on, she replied with a nervous smile that the situations were "pretty even". "It's part of the process of moving from juniors to seniors. You start getting more attention," she added.
She went on to reveal she was being trained to handle the media and there is no doubt that she will be speaking to them more often. A charming slim 14 year old, she is fleet of foot and packs a large punch as Melanie Oudin discovered when she was eliminated by the young Briton 6-1, 6-3. The two had previous form having met in the final of the Roehampton Junior International championships at Roehampton last week, where Oudin emerged the victor over three sets. For Robson the opportunity to avenge that defeat quickly was clearly very welcome. From the outset she had Oudin, the title favourite, on the back foot having taken on board lessons from their last meeting. "I knew what she was going to do and this time I just stayed with my game plan a lot more.
"Last week I won the first set and she went a lot more defensive so I was ready for that and hit my shots deeper. Oudin, while covering up her disappointment, agreed that Robson had played a lot better than at Roehampton. "I don't know what went wrong [with my game] but she just didn't miss today," she confessed.
Robson, who was born in Australia, moved to England because of her father's job in the oil industry. She is based at Wimbledon and walks to the Club in the morning. It is her first year and her debut could well extend deeper into the draw, which would hearten her newly acquired fans.
"There were a couple there who watched me yesterday (when she beat Alexa Guarachi, also of the US, 6-0, 6-4) that came to watch me again today. But there were so many people supporting me – it was a great atmosphere."
She next faces the unseeded Lesley Kerkhove for a place in the quarter-finals. The Dutch girl has also upset stronger opposition, namely the 15th seed Linda Berlinecke of Germany, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Oudin, who turns 17 in September, dreams of winning a junior Grand Slam title before turning professional later this year.
She is already making inroads at senior level and is ranked 271 by the WTA. The prospect of improving that appeals to her. "At the end of this year I’m going to start playing 10K and 24K events," she said.
As far as British fans are concerned, the sooner the better after this performance confirmed she is the best prospect to emerge on these shores in recent years.
| Court 7 - Girls' Singles - 2nd Round | |
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