Robson And Li To Reprise 2012 Match

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 29th August 2013

Robson And Li To Reprise 2012 Match

epa03841081 Laura Robson of Great Britain hits a return to Caroline Garcia of France during their match on the third day of the 2013 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 28 August 2013. The US Open runs through Monday 09 September, a 15-day schedule for the first time. EPA/JASON SZENES |

A year ago Laura Robson took the tennis world by surprise when she knocked former French Open champion Li Na out of the US Open when the British teenager was only ranked 89th in the world. Now she is a seed as the pair prepare for a rematch in round three of this year’s event and revenge is on Li Na’s mind.

The pair may now share the same agent in IMG’s Max Eisenbud but they are not any closer as a result. “I say ‘Hi’ when I see her in the locker room just like I always have, but nothing else,” revealed 30th seed Robson who moved through with a straight sets win over France’s Caroline Garcia despite having to take a medical timeout to have extra tape applied to the left wrist that kept her sidelined for a month.

Li Na had few problems in her win over Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson and seems more than ready for Robson. “After last year I think both players improve a lot,” she said in her broken English. “I’m really looking forward to play against her.

“At the time it was the biggest win for me. I would say probably Radwanska [in Madrid this May] is my biggest right now.

“For sure really [she’s a] challenging, lefty, aggressive player. Also, I can see prove myself like after one year whether I can do better than last year.”

Robson won last year’s third round match 6-4,6-7,6-2, following on from another big victory over the about to retire Kim Clijsters. She outlined her memories of the win by saying: “I remember being so nervous when I walked on court. Then just fighting through that and just sticking with her.

“I think she made a lot of mistakes in the first set, which helped quite a lot. Hopefully she’ll do that again.”

Regardless of her enforced lay-off that prevented her from playing any tournaments in the build up to the US Open, Robson is in a confident frame of mind and said: “Starting from Wimbledon, I felt like I was winning the matches I was supposed to win, especially my second and third rounds there. That’s what I’ve done here so far.

“But it’s definitely a big match in the third round against Li Na. It’s going to be a tough one. I think it does get a little bit easier [with experience], but not a lot. What I’ve liked so far here is I’ve gone onto the court pretty confident and stayed that way throughout the match.”

Topics: 10sballs, Agnieszka Radwanska, French Open, Laura Robson, Li Na, Sports, Tennis, Wimbledon, Wta