Laura
Robson Interview
Wimbledon
2010
Q. You must be
fairly pleased with that? Certainly gave her a run for
her money in the second set.
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, yeah. You know, she could have won the
second set 6-3 because I was 5-3 down. But I fought back.
You know, I thought I could have done a bit more in the
rally, especially in the tiebreak, you know, just try to
be more aggressive.
But she's No. 4 in the world for a reason so... She
played well.
Q. Did you enjoy the occasion, playing on Centre
Court?
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, you know, I thought it was going to be
a lot more overwhelming. But, uhm, the court's not as big
as it seems on TV. So, yeah, it was really good to play
on centre. It was good there were loads of people
cheering me on.
Q. She was very complimentary about your serve today.
Said she hasn't come up against a serve like that from
someone your age ever before. Was that particularly a
good day?
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, well, I practice a lot on my serve, so
hopefully it is good. But, uhm, you know, it can always
get better. Uhm, I'm not actually even sure how many aces
I hit today.
Q. 13.
LAURA ROBSON: Really? Thank you (smiling).
Yeah, that's a good number. But I think the most
important thing is that I served well on the big points,
you know, when she had a breakpoint or something. So it's
good that I'm able to do that.
Q. A big court. It was an important opponent. But you
seemed to play with no fear out there.
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, I was a lot more nervous this morning
when I woke up, uhm, in a good way. And then when I got
onto the court, I was just trying to focus on not losing
6-Love, 6-Love.
So I think I did pretty well.
Q. What kind of things will you have picked up from
that experience, playing against a player of that
stature, the sort of things that it's going to take for
you to compete at that level?
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, well, I think I can improve on
everything really. Uhm, you know, a few things in
particular. But I think, you know, it was a close match.
So, uhm, there's not too much difference. It's just
continuing my training and everything like that so I can
keep getting better.
Q. Did Jelena offer any words of encouragement after
the game, compliment you on your efforts at all?
LAURA ROBSON: Like when do you mean?
Q. After the match, did she compliment you at all.
LAURA ROBSON: I haven't seen her since the handshake, so
no.
Q. How did your coach and family think you got on?
Were they pleased with your efforts?
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, I think they were happy. Uhm, you
know, obviously I think I could have played a bit better,
and I'm sure they did, too, because they've seen me play
my best tennis before.
But in all I think it was a pretty good match and I think
they were all pretty proud.
Q. Long term, do you think grass will be your best
surface?
LAURA ROBSON: Well, I like hard courts. I'm getting
better on clay. So, you know, I wouldn't like to pin
everything on grass courts, because there's not that many
tournaments on it every year. But, uhm, you know, it is a
favorite surface of mine because it helps being a lefty
and stuff like that.
Q. You're in the mixed. Are you going to play in the
junior singles here?
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, for the moment I don't know about
juniors, but I am playing doubles and hopefully mixed.
They haven't announced the wild cards for mixed, so I
don't know about that.
But I'm definitely playing doubles. I'm playing with
Sally Peers, the girl I played with in Australia. We got
to the quarterfinals there. So hopefully we'll do really
well here.
Q. Do you think you're at the stage where playing
juniors, you're not necessarily going to be learning much
more?
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, no, I think some of the junior girls
are really good. I lost in Australia in the final. So she
was obviously better than me then. So I think, uhm, a lot
can still be gained from playing juniors.
Q. So why might you not play juniors then?
LAURA ROBSON: I think it really just depends on how I do
in the doubles and mixed, because I don't want to do too
much at once.
Q. Have you experienced any unfriendliness from the
other girls on the tour by calling them sluts in that
magazine?
LAURA ROBSON: No, they've been really nice to me. It's
hard to kind of talk about it. But, uhm, they've all been
really nice to me basically.
Q. Was it taken out of context?
LAURA ROBSON: I think it was. But, you know, I prefer not
to talk about it.
Q. Last year you were here, you'd just done your
GCSEs. Are you going to do A levels, university?
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, yeah, I'd obviously like to doing some
form of education. My brother has just finished his
exams. He did the IB, which was really tough for him. I
think it was three weeks of solid exams. Uhm, he's going
to uni in September. It really depends how my tennis goes
because university might not be possible.
Q. Is that your priority at the moment, your tennis?
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah.
Q. How much time are you spending at the moment in
Paris?
LAURA ROBSON: I haven't been there for a while because I
was playing, uhm, here, practicing on the grass. Before
that, I was in America and stuff doing the tournaments
over there. But, uhm, you know, it's kind of half and
half-ish. As of now, it's more based in London.
Q. Have you thought about your schedule after
Wimbledon at all?
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, not for the moment because it is
difficult with the number of tournaments I can play, so I
don't know how many I've got left actually.
But, uhm, hopefully I'll be able to get into US Open. I
don't really know what the cutoff is. But I'd like to get
in on my own ranking. I don't know when they do the thing
on there.
Q. How will you spend your prize money?
LAURA ROBSON: Last year I didn't get to spend any of my
prize money, so I don't think this year is going to be
any different.
Q. Why not?
LAURA ROBSON: It goes somewhere. I don't get to spend it.
That's just how it is.
Q. How old will you have to be before you get your
hands on your prize money?
LAURA ROBSON: Who knows? It's not up to me, is it?
Q. It's up to mum and dad? Are they the ones looking
after it?
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah.
Q. They're in control?
LAURA ROBSON: Very much so. I'm fine with that for the
moment, though.
Q. Sounds like you're comfortable out there on Centre
Court. Can you see yourself hopefully playing a lot there
in the future?
LAURA ROBSON: Well, yeah, I was pretty comfortable out
there. As I said, it's not as intimidating as it seems.
But, uhm, you know, I'd like to play on it again. It
obviously depends on how I do it in the future if I will
get to play on it again.
But, uhm, it's something that I can look forward to in
the future because I know that everyone's going to be
supporting me.
Q. We'd all like to see you one day win Wimbledon. It
would be brilliant.
LAURA ROBSON: I would, too. I'd like that (smiling).
Q. When do you think? You don't have a crystal ball,
but...
LAURA ROBSON: It's hard to say. Ideally I would have
liked to have won it this year, but that's obviously not
going to happen (smiling).
Why don't you give me a year. Your guess would be just as
good as mine.
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