Coach-less Laura Robson Is Ready For Paris With Confidence

Written by: Staff on 24th May 2013

Coach-less Laura Robson Is Ready For Paris With Confidence

epa03700510 British player Laura Robson returns the ball to US tennis player Serena Williams during their second round match of the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 14 May 2013. EPA/ETTORE FERRARI |

Laura Robson knew she was taking a major gamble dispensing of the services of her Croatian coach Zeljko Krajan in the immediate build up to the French Open and Wimbledon. However, the teenager at 18 the youngest player in the world’s top 50 and now the main focus of British interest at Roland Garros following the withdrawal of Andy Murray, believes she is already benefiting from the decision.

Although Robson lost in Rome last week to eventual champion Serena Williams she put up a more than creditable performance that reaffirmed the confidence her former coach Patrick Mouratoglou had in her as a junior.

Mouratoglou, whose academy Robson attended for almost a year, had a conversation with Serena after the match and reported she said: “Now I understand why you warned me that she’s good.”

Earlier this year, after the Australian Open where she beat former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Robson’s form took an alarming dip but things are now looking up again. She is on the hunt for an experienced coach to replace Krajan but for the time being is using Sven Groeneveld of the adidas Player Development Program while the Lawn Tennis Association’s Head of Women’s Tennis Iain Bates will also be at Roland Garros.

“I’m playing with more confidence and feeling happier on the court,” insisted 35th ranked Robson as she prepared in Paris after beating Agnieszka Radwanska in Madrid and Venus Williams in Rome. “I have always tried to play an aggressive style and in order to do that you need to be feeling confident.

“‘I’d probably give myself a five or a six. I didn’t really get the start I wanted this year and it’s only in the last few weeks that I feel that I have picked up.”

Robson does not allow herself to be carried away by the stature of her victims that aside from Radwanska, Williams and Kvitova also include Li Na and Kim Clijsters. “Perhaps it matters a bit less to me because I do find it easier in some ways playing the top players,’ added Robson.

“But in the first round of Madrid two weeks ago I won a tough match against a Slovakian girl (Magdalena Rybarikova) who was ranked much the same as me, and in a way that was a very important match.

“You always want things to happen quickly and I definitely get frustrated sometimes, especially when you lose close matches, but the important thing now is to keep improving.”

©DailY Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Murray, French Open, Laura Robson, Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis News, Wimbledon, Zelko Krajan