Laura Robson continues to prosper on the WTA Tour – Tennis News
Great Britain’s Laura Robson is on the rise recently and she is progressing to later stages of almost all the tournaments she is participating these days, making one upset after another.
The new British number one is participating in the Guangzhou International Women’s Open this week. Not only Robson is beating her higher ranked opponents but she is also doing it with ease. She stunned the second seed, Jie Zhang
of China, in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of this WTA event.
Robson played aggressively against the Chinese number two throughout the match. The 18-year-old said that after her success at the US Open, people have started to expect more from here.
Talking to the reporters after downing the Chinese player, Robson said, "Zheng Jie moves very fast and I had to play really aggressively. I think I am in a good shape today and played well. After the US Open people put more pressure
and expectations on me, but I just want to focus on tennis and be a better player every time I step on court. I have confidence in myself and I believe I can achieve my goals."
She added, "I practiced with Peng Shuai a few days ago. I feel the way she play is similar to Zheng. So I will continue to play aggressively just like I did today.”
This year has proved to be a breakthrough one for this youngster, who started the season with a ranking of 134. She barely qualified for the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open, and was thrashed by the former world
number one, Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, in straight sets 2-6, 0-6 in the first round of the main draw.
Robson did not give any commendable performance in the first seven months of the year. The turning point came when the top British men’s tennis player, Andy Murray, chose her as his mixed doubles partner at the London Olympics.
Robson was the fourth highest ranked woman of her country at that time but Murray preferred her against the top three.
Murray’s decision proved to be absolutely right, as Robson rose to the occasion and fully supported her seasoned partner. They lost to Max Mirnyi and Victoria Azarenka in the final and clinched silver medal.
That exposure gave Robson confidence and she gave the best performance of her career at the US Open, upsetting two Grand Slam champions, Kim Clijsters and Li Na, to reach the fourth round. The London resident became British number
one after those heroics.
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