Laura Robson

Caught the last 2 sets of her game against Angelique Kerber, following the Murray - Kamke match. Have to agree with the pundits who called her a rising star. Still needs to improve a lot, but if she can refine her technique and find some consistency, we could see a lot more of her in future.

Shame she's up against Sharapova in the next round, but I suppose making the 2nd round is still progress. The kid's got some shots on her, though typically for a Brit, she did get her win the hard way, getting herself into good positions, only to lose a number of games in succession.

On a side note, it was nice to see Muzza win in straight sets. Still not at his best, but one hallmark of a champion is being able to grind out results when you're not at your best. Lets hope he can step it up as the quality of his opponents improves.

Robson's movement is dreadful for a 17 year old.

sonic_boom10 wrote:Robson's movement is dreadful for a 17 year old.

you do talk utter garbage. At least give an example of a 17 year old's movement that is impressive.

legendkillar wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:Robson's movement is dreadful for a 17 year old.

you do talk utter garbage. At least give an example of a 17 year old's movement that is impressive.

Martina Hingis

sonic_boom10 wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:Robson's movement is dreadful for a 17 year old.

you do talk utter garbage. At least give an example of a 17 year old's movement that is impressive.

Martina Hingis

Martina was slow!!! You know nought about tennis. She was renowned for tactical nous, not speed!!!

Her movement is terrible tho. apparently it had always been an issue and has never been properly adressed in coaching. To be honest Watson moves better and Is clearly far fitter even allowing for injuries. For quick young players, look at almost any of the Spanish players under 5'8.

For me my tip is that Watson has a better chance to be sucessfull due to her mental approach and especially if she gains strength over the next two years, even if robson does have the bigger shots right now

I think Robson is just getting back to fitness. I think it is daft for anyone to think she could be 'gliding' around the court given that she has been unfortunate with injuries. I think a better judgement of her movement she be reserved for when she has played more matches and has a season on the tour under her belt.

Watson for me has problems with the FH. She does have the better mental strength, but I don't think she has the array of shots that Robson does.

For me, between Robson and Watson we have all the attributes of a really top class (top 5) player - someone with Robson's serve (still a work in progress, but has good pace and spin) and groundshots and Watson's movement and mentality would be really tough to beat.

I think Robson will probably go further in the game overall - you need that extra power these days to be a real contender among the elite of the WTA, and she has that much more naturally than Heather (partly just from size). Her fitness and movement can be improved by training (and her movement isn't that bad, just not as well balanced as some), and there is also a need to add a bit of deftness to her game - with her power, adding an effective dropshot or net game would be really beneficial.

Agree that Robson doesn't move very well. Lumbering is how i'd describe her.

But she can get fitter and faster as she gets older.

Can't be easy for a skinny 5'7" 14 year old to turn into quite a powerful looking 6 footer in the space of a couple of years.

Watson will always battle hard and will win her fair share of matches by simply getting enough balls back for her opponent to make mistakes. I see Watson as almost a safe bet to be a consistent top 50 throughout her career, probably higher at times, but Robson has the weapons to be right up there, providing she sorts out a few things.

Agree with dummy half when he says that put them together they would make an excellent player, probably challenging for these things already. Mix Laura's 52 winners and lefty serve, with Heather's tenacity and relative consistency off the ground, and probably her tactical nous too.

I fully agree with DJ. Couldn't of said it better.

And already the critics are out to deny Robson any applause for her win.

Slow, lumbering, terrible, dreadful....how the hell she beat a player miles above her in rankings must be down to the fact that she ain't as rubbish as you think.

Or maybe the other girl was more Slower, lumbering, terrible and dreadful in her movement.....?

Junior Champion 2 yrs ago too, doesn't say much for all those great up and coming players that she thrashed on her way to her Wimbledon crown does it.

Laura is only 17yrs old and has grown about 5 inches in the
last year which led to ham-string problems and also abdominal
injury due to her growth-spurt.

Give the girl a chance !!!

yummy and Jubba

An obvious tactic to beat her would be the corner to corner shot, or the drop shot or the lob.

Seems like she's such an easy opponent, being soooooo slow, that they may just get an false sense of security and like the tortoise and the hare, she beats them by running about even slower than she looks.

Yeah, thats it, the other player thinks its all in slow-mo and it ruins their timing.

I think I've rumbled Laura, I might make a few bob on this !

Laura Robson - okay let's look at who she beat despite her movement ...

23 year old German tennis player Angelique Kerber, currently ranked at 77 - that's 177 places above Laura. In fact Angelique earlier this year in January was ranked at 45. So all in all that's not a bad victory for young Laura, not bad at all.

Some great stat work as always NS

Stats are over rated.

Robson moves like an elephant on ice.

sonic_boom10 wrote:Stats are over rated.

Robson moves like an elephant on ice.

You mean only when you want to use them to your advantage in a debate?

Try and use some sense!

legendkillar wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:Stats are over rated.

Robson moves like an elephant on ice.

You mean only when you want to use them to your advantage in a debate?

Try and use some sense!

I've seen plenty of 17 year olds with greater movement than Robson.

You're not a fan of British sport are you?

Did you even watch the match?

djlovesyou wrote:You're not a fan of British sport are you?

Did you even watch the match?

Isn't Robson an Aussie?

sonic_boom10 wrote:

legendkillar wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:Stats are over rated.

Robson moves like an elephant on ice.

You mean only when you want to use them to your advantage in a debate?

Try and use some sense!

I've seen plenty of 17 year olds with greater movement than Robson.

Name 3 tennis players at 17 that are female that move better on the current tour?

sonic_boom10 wrote:Stats are over rated.

Robson moves like an elephant on ice.

How cute - we have our own little 606v2 wum

Nore Staat wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:Stats are over rated.

Robson moves like an elephant on ice.

How cute - we have our own little 606v2 wum

Nah, he is a Cricket fan (supposidly) and fails in that category

Nore Staat wrote:

sonic_boom10 wrote:Stats are over rated.

Robson moves like an elephant on ice.

How cute - we have our own little 606v2 wum

Calling Laura Robson an Aussie was a wum tactic that went out of fashion a couple of years ago.

Way to ruin your street cred.

djlovesyou wrote:Calling Laura Robson an Aussie was a wum tactic that went out of fashion a couple of years ago.

Way to ruin your street cred.

How old are you 5?

I think someone is in need of love

Robson is only 17 people saying she isn't good enough or her movement is rubbish is talking utter tripe.

Haven't you heard of a thing called improvement, her and Watson against the women's players on tour especially Watson look more than capable of becoming real talents in the next couple of years.

Robson can be a bit frail but at Wimbledon in the past she has showed glimpses of brilliance. Sharapova will most likely smash her off court but it will be a good experience for Laura.

She is still only 17 and people should give players like Watson and Robson a break.

GloucesterBear wrote:Robson is only 17 people saying she isn't good enough or her movement is rubbish is talking utter tripe.

Haven't you heard of a thing called improvement, her and Watson against the women's players on tour especially Watson look more than capable of becoming real talents in the next couple of years.

Robson can be a bit frail but at Wimbledon in the past she has showed glimpses of brilliance. Sharapova will most likely smash her off court but it will be a good experience for Laura.

She is still only 17 and people should give players like Watson and Robson a break.

Solerina

Has anybody thought of Petra Kvitova? her frame is very similar to Laura's and her movement has only just (In the last year came on) came on, which is to be expected in the taller girls! With Watson, her game means she has to be athletic and a good mover, she does not a big enough game to go toe to toe with the big guns so needs to be able to get the ball back time after time, and finally i remember watching Sharapova (And still sometimes atm) and thinking, wow that girl gets round the court awkwardly!
Laura is 17 dont forget, soo much time to improve, a star in the making.

GloucesterBear wrote:Robson is only 17 people saying she isn't good enough or her movement is rubbish is talking utter tripe.

Haven't you heard of a thing called improvement, her and Watson against the women's players on tour especially Watson look more than capable of becoming real talents in the next couple of years.

Robson can be a bit frail but at Wimbledon in the past she has showed glimpses of brilliance. Sharapova will most likely smash her off court but it will be a good experience for Laura.

She is still only 17 and people should give players like Watson and Robson a break.

The movement issue is not utter rubbish at all, its been a concern since her junior days. People are reacting as if it just been made up....have a look at wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Robson

and this article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article4276542.ece

now, its linked to her youth, yes, but this is something that has been brought up time and time again since before her wimbledon win a few years ago. shes always relied on power shots, which is great, but the movement is something that needs to be address ASAP if shes going to contend at the top, specifically off grass, which is kind of important to be honest. i agree some young players have bad movement, but if you watch Robson play you can see the issue is to a higher level than most, so i maintain its is going to be a real issue unless she addresses it soon.

Oh well Tom.

She is doing well currently, told she has showed glimpses of brilliance at Wimbledon in the past.

This performance overall is brilliant, currently 3-2 up on Sharapova on a tie-break is amazing.

The fact she has taken a former champion to a tie-break is a mark of progress in her game.

Movement can be improved upon. When she does, top 10 watch out!

maria is is beating robson without getting out of first gear at the moment

Maria hasn't got any other gears pauline!

legendkillar wrote:Maria hasn't got any other gears pauline!

Just ask Adam Levine!

robson wont beat maria in thats my guess

pauline1981 wrote:robson wont beat maria in thats my guess

Nice of you to sit on the fence pauline when the match is halfway through!

Well, considering Robson is ranked 200-and-something and Sharapova is in the women's top 10, I think Laura has done bloody well, taking the first set to a tie break...even if she is getting trounced in the second set.

Even as I type this, at 5-1 down, Robson breaks back to make it 5-2. Pretty gutsy for a kid up against a former Wimbledon winner.

Agreed her movement and general technique still need work, but she's still showing real talent and skill with some of her serves and winners.

Give the girl a break!


UPDATE: make that 5-3 in the 2nd set now. This girl's a fighter!

robson welldone no disgrace losing to a all time great

A great performance, she can hold her head high, not many people expected that performance!

Ah well, Sharapova holds serve in next game to take the 2nd set 6-3 and with it the match.

Hardly unexpected but I'll bet she had to work a lot harder than she thought she would.

So, we can look forwawrd to more screaming and grunting from Maria but well done Laura for making her work for the win.

dyrewolfe wrote:Ah well, Sharapova holds serve in next game to take the 2nd set 6-3 and with it the match.

Hardly unexpected but I'll bet she had to work a lot harder than she thought she would.

So, we can look forwawrd to more screaming and grunting from Maria but well done Laura for making her work for the win.

i cant wait the grunting was kept to minimum today

Good effort today, only a matter of time (and a higher frequency of matches) before she starts winning a few of these sorts of matches.

On a slightly unrelated note, but still on the subject of young British women, it's interesting to see the performances of 15 year old Eleanor Dean this week. She won a $10K in The Netherlands last week, and is into the semis of the second event in that series this week. Currently with a win streak of 10 senior matches, and will debut at least inside the top 800 in the rankings next week. Also interesting that these events are on her (supposedly) weakest surface of clay.

She will possibly be doing the juniors at Wimbledon and could be an outside shot.

Some debate whether the commentators were overpraising Laura today. I think not. She has what SO MANY of the British girls do not have - big weapons. She's got a big serve which will only get better as she gets dfitter and older and she has huge ground strokes that she can hit well even when under pressure.
All she lacks at the moment is fitness and experience and they will come. Most British 17 year olds would have won about two games on Number one against a three-time GS champion.

missed the game today, but by all accounts she seems to have acquitted herself very well indeed. I actually went to see Laura play in the Girls singles at RG a couple of years ago, and she already had those big weapons (serve and forehand). However I was also concerned by her movement, so it's not a new problem.

Having said that, it's something she can improve upon with plenty of work, and the serve and forehand she has are already huge weapons, which is great. She hit over 50 winners against Kerber, including I think over 30 off the forehand wing, impressive stuff!

The other aspect I'd like to see her work on is closing out sets, she had her chances today and maybe should have won the first set, and against Kerber she also let her opponent back into sets 2 and 3 (though credit to her, she showed great mental strength to win through despite those set-backs).

All in all, she will be a very very good player one day!

MfC
The other positive issue with Robson is that she seems to have a good big match temperament - showed in her first Wimbledon, where she played Jankovic on a show court, and again today against MaSha. Didn't get phased by the occasion and produced some excellent tennis.

As I put on the Day 5 thread, I think if she had a little more experience of playing this level of opponent she would have won the first set - she just doesn't yet have the intuitive knowledge of how much she needs to go for on some shots, and let Sharapova back into a few points (usually because of not putting the backhand close enough to the lines).

pauline1981 wrote:maria is is beating robson without getting out of first gear at the moment