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Bodybuilding.com - David Robson's Personal Transformation: Week One. bodybuilding.com | Laura Barr, MD pomerenehospital.org | Acupuncture By Laura Loterszpil in Bowie, Maryland acupuncturepgcounty.com | Tender Care Animal Hospital - Dr. Laura Johnson tendercareanimalhospital.... |
Laura Robson (born 21 January 1994) is a British tennis player. Born in Australia, she moved to the UK at an early age and first gained a British passport in early 2008.[2] She debuted on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior tour in 2007, and a year later won the Wimbledon Junior Girls' Championship at the age of 14. She won her first professional tournament in November 2008, and in 2009, she made the final of the Australian Open Junior Girls' Championships. As of 14 September 2009, Robson has a rank on Women's Tennis Association Tour ranking of 460 (after the 2009 US Open). [3] Robson is currently the British number 2 for Juniors, behind Heather Watson.
[edit] Early life and junior careerRobson was born on 21 January 1994 in Melbourne, Australia, the third child to Andrew, an oil executive with Royal Dutch Shell,[4] and Kathy Robson, a sports coach and former professional basketball player.[5] Robson and her family moved from Melbourne to Singapore when she was eighteen months old, and then to the UK when she was six.[6] According to her parents, she began playing tennis "as soon as she could hold a tennis racquet",[7] and after being encouraged by them, she entered a junior tennis academy at age 7.[8] She signed with management company Octagon when she was 10,[9] with Adidas at age 11,[10] and also signed a racquet deal with Wilson Sporting Goods.[9] After working with several coaches, including the head of the Lawn Tennis Association, Carl Maes, she chose her current coach, Martijn Bok, in 2007.[8] Bok said later that although Robson "had trouble staying emotionally under control", he "saw right away...a lot of potential in Laura."[8] Robson also began training at the National Tennis Centre,[7] under the guidance of Bok, Maes, and the head of women's tennis at the center, Nigel Sears,[8] while taking school lessons at home.[4] Robson's first tournament on the junior ITF tour was in May 2007, where she went from the qualifying draw of the tournament to the quarterfinals.[11] She reached the final of two other tournaments in 2007, and won her first tournament in October.[11] In the first half of 2008, Robson reached the finals of three tournaments, but was also eliminated before the third round in three straight tournaments.[11] Robson competed in her first junior grand slam at the Wimbledon girls' event, as an unseeded player.[12] As the youngest player in the tournament,[13] she beat first seed Melanie Oudin on her way to the finals, where she defeated third seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 6–3 3–6 6–1.[13] Her victory made her the first British player to win the girls' event since Annabel Croft in 1984, and the British media described her as the "new darling" of British tennis,[14] and the "Queen of Wimbledon".[15] However, former British tennis players such as Croft and Virginia Wade said that the "we have to be careful with the expectations we place on her",[16] and that Robson needed to "build her confidence".[17] After a brief period on the main tour, Robson returned to junior competition but was knocked out in the second round of a tournament in December.[11] In the same month she played her final junior tournament of 2008, the Orange Bowl, where she had to retire in the third round with a stomach strain.[18] At the end of the year, she was shortlisted for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year,[19] but lost out to Paralympic swimmer Eleanor Simmonds.[20] After recovering from her injury, Robson entered the 2009 Australian Open junior tournament, where she was seeded fifth. In the semifinals she faced a replay of her Wimbledon final, against top seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn,[21] whom she beat in straight sets, 6–4 6–3, to reach her second Grand Slam junior final. Facing third seed Ksenia Pervak from Russia,[22] Robson was defeated 6–3 6–1. She later attributed her loss to Pervak's greater consistency,[23] and her coach Bok said that "everybody has to be patient".[10] After the tournament, Robson started to train with Gil Reyes, the former trainer of Andre Agassi.[10] She was also named the MCC Young Sportswoman of the Year.[24] She claimed the top ranking of ITF junior tour in April, despite not playing for two months because of shin splints.[25] At the 2009 French Open Robson was the top seed in the junior's competition, but was defeated in round two by Sandra Zaniewska. Due to her focus on her Senior career, Robson entered the 2009 US Open unseeded. In the first round she beat Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-0 6-1. She then faced the 7th seed Lauren Embree of the United States and beat her 4-6 6-1 6-4. She went on to face the 12th seed, Tamaryn Hendler of Belgium, who she defeated 6-2 6-1. Robson then set up a quarter-final encounter with Lauren Davis of the USA, who she beat 6-2 6-3. In her semi-final she faced Yana Buchina of Russia. Due to rain delay, both quarter and semi finals were played on the same day, therefore the semi-final match followed the quarter-final match. Despite starting strongly, Robson tired, losing the match 1-6 6-3 7-5. [edit] Professional career[edit] 2008Following her victory at Wimbledon, Robson made her debut on the ITF senior tour at a $10,000 tournament in Limoges, France.[26] She won two matches to qualify for the main draw of the tournament, as well as her first round match, before having to retire with a shoulder injury in the second round against the second seed, Marina Melnikova.[27] Robson was then given a wildcard into the main draw of the $75,000 ITF in Shrewsbury, Great Britain.[28] After beating 2007 Wimbledon girls singles champion Urszula Radwańska and fourth seed Tzipi Obziler,[27] Robson lost to second seed Maret Ani in three sets in the semifinals.[29][30] She was given another wildcard into the $50,000 tournament in Barnstaple, Great Britain, but was defeated in three sets in her first round match against the seventh seed Angelique Kerber,[31] who later said that it was "unbelievable how she's playing".[32]  Her first match on the WTA tour was courtesy of a wildcard into the 2008 Fortis Championships in Luxembourg City. She was drawn in the first round against world number 42, Iveta Benešová but lost 1–6, 6–2, 6–3.[31] Returning to the ITF circuit, Robson entered as the fifth seed in the $10,000 event held in Sunderland, England.[33] After beating third seed Laura-Ioana Andrei in the quarterfinals, she beat fellow Britons Tara Moore and Samantha Vickers in straight sets to win her first ITF title at the age of 14 years and 9 months.[33][34] [edit] 2009Robson returned to the junior tour for the first half of 2009. On 9 June, Wimbledon announced that Robson received a wildcard for the Ladies' Singles event at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships.[35][36] She faced former World No.5 and 2002 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Daniela Hantuchova in the first round but lost 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 despite being a break up in the second set. She also entered into the doubles tournament with Georgie Stoop, progressing to the second round before losing to sixteenth seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo. As well as Wimbledon, she competed in two ITF tournaments, one via a wildcard and the second via qualification, but lost in the first round of both. In August 2009, Robson received a wild card into the 2009 US Open qualifying tournament. She defeated Stephanie Foretz of France in the first round in straight sets[37], 7–5, 6–1, and went on to beat Aniko Kapros of Hungary[38], 6–4, 7–5. In the final round, she lost to Eva Hrdinová, after leading 4–1 in the third set.[39] On 17 October, Robson entered the qualifying draw at the Luxembourg Open. In the first round of qualifying she defeated world number 180 Zuzana Ondraskova 7-5 6-4. In the second round of qualifying she defeated Julia Goerges, the world number 79, 6-3 6-2.[40] In the final round of qualifying she lost to Maria Elena Camerin 3-6 4-6.[41] On 10 November, Robson beat Yuliya Beygelzimer 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Minsk ITF competition.[42] She defeated Tetyana Arefyeva 6-0 6-4 to reach the second round[43] but was defeated in the quarter-finals by Vitalia Diatchenko 6-3 6-2.[44] [edit] Playing styleRobson plays left-handed,[45] with a two-handed backhand. One of her strengths is her "dominant" serve,[45] which has been described as "the chief reason she can dominate most juniors".[46] However, she has been criticized for having "poor lateral movement".[46] She has been praised for showing "extraordinary poise",[46] and having the "the attitude and technique required of a leading player".[47] Commentator Simon Reed said that she "has every tool she needs",[48] and former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash called her "a special talent" who "seems to have all the attributes to progress".[49] Current WTA star Ana Ivanovic said that Robson "hits the ball really, really hard",[31] and former British top player Samantha Smith said that "she doesn't have any weaknesses at all".[15] [edit] Career finals[edit] Titles
[edit] Major Junior Finals
[edit] Singles performance timelineTo help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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