Young Laura thrown off balance when addressed by The Swiss One .....

Chance upon a discarded copy of the 'Weekend' supplement from last Saturday's Telegraph on the train yesterday 

Laura Robson happened to be the subject matter of a regular feature titled "My Perfect Weekend" in which various celebs are 'profiled' - all written in the first person using entirely their own words.

A pretty good read all in all. A level-headed balance between a (necessary) confidence in her own ability, but at the same time a clear acceptance/awareness that she has much to do if she is to make further, sustained progress.

Her parents apparently moved to Greece earlier this year, and so whenever she is not on tour but here in the UK she lives on her own in a flat in Putney - where she says "the evenings are rather lonely and quiet at the moment"    

She says she has read most of the tennis biographies, adding "I would say Agassi's is the best"  (hey, thanks Laura - I actually picked up a copy for just £1.95 in a charity shop the other day - hardback version and in pristine condition -  and am looking forward to it occupying what might well be a rainy weekend coming up, and seeing how it compares to McEnroe's 'Serious')

Apart from Agassi, the only other pros who get a mention are Murray ("Andy is great"), Serena and ...... his highness R. Federer .....

"The first time I played on Centre Court I was about 15 and as I was going on, Roger Federer was coming off court and said "Good luck, Laura" and all I could think was,  "Oh my God, Federer just spoke to me !"

Sounds like a good read. I've always wanted to read Agassi's autobiography because it's had great reviews from pros and journalists alike, if a bit revealing.

On another note, I can imagine many players (including male professionals!!) being in awe of Federer and star struck if he said "Good luck" to them.

I say respect to Federer for knowing who that 15 year old player is and taking a moment to wish her luck.

Seems like a nice chap, does Roger.

I can imagine the greatest impact on the girl would be "Oh my God, he knows who I am!!!"

Yes, it's an indication of a nice guy.

Yes I think he is a nice guy.  Heather Watson tells a similar story about Wimbledon -( I can't remember if it was last year) she was sitting in the players' lounge and had won her opening match when Federer came past and said 'good job Heather'.

Federer hits with juniors during practices as well. I think he truly cares about the future of tennis and tries to do what he can to be a mentor...   I think it was Raonic? or maybe Tomic that spoke after their match last year how Federer was the only top player who made an effort to sit down with him in the lockerroom and give him some tips on how to be the best professional he could be..

"the evenings are rather lonely and quiet at the moment" ...

I can make you a quick list of candidates from this forum, that can sort that out.

Yknow, maybe it's this stuff that happens away from what fans see that has them voting him their best sportsman so many years.

It is definitely because he has the time for the rank and file - there are lots of players on both the ATP and the WTA tour that speak of him taking the time to talk and support. Svetlana Kutsenova spoke after RG 2009 of how she had been close to quitting the game a year before and it had been talks with Federer that persuaded her to give it another go.

There is an old article on 606 about someone working as a ball boy at W. He mentioned that after the first day (I think) or the MahIsner classic, Federer was in the locker room wanting to make sure both MahIsner were all right from their marathon.

Ah, found it...

A good friend of mine was working in the non-seeds locker room (yes there is one for seeds and one for non-seeds). At the end of their epic match Isner and Mahut returned to their different locker rooms as Isner was seeded and Mahut not. Mahut was on the verge of physical and mental collapse. In the end, my friend and some some others had to pick Mahut up from the floor and console him. And who should make his way from the seeds locker room to the non-seeds to console and congratulate the staggering performance this player had put in and still lost the match.

Of course, Roger Federer! He spent 20 minutes with Mahut generally looking after him, consoling him and cheering him up, when most other players in the locker rooms had left or ignored the situation. Is there any wonder that the other players on tour consistently vote this guy as their winner of the sportmanship award.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A71280074

NB: There is no way to verify this unless the staff at AELTC or players involved corroborate this, but I doubt that anyone would try and fabricate such an incident. BTW, there are some interesting names on that thread, including one of my favourite posters, DuggieToo.

Jahu wrote:"the evenings are rather lonely and quiet at the moment" ...

I can make you a quick list of candidates from this forum, that can sort that out.

Can I hereby request that I be placed top of that list please Jahu...?

I'm really hoping that Laura is going to be fully occupied during the next two weeks ; but, in reality, I feel she will sadly end up with a lot of time on her hands ....

She drew Kirilenko in the first round. I'm not too sure what to make of that draw.

It's the price Laura has to pay for (just) missing out on a seed spot.

The Pom-Pom'ed One?