Us Brits being what we are, there is only one thing that matches our hunger for success on the tennis court – our foot-stamping impatience for it. So since sweeping her way to the junior Wimbledon title in 2008, Laura Robson’s every move has been subject to the closest scrutiny. With a glittering appearance alongside Andy Murray at January’s Hopman Cup and a second successive finals defeat at the Australian Open juniors, Robson is nothing if not high profile. But does she really have what it takes?
The tricky transition
No one ever said that making the jump from top junior to competitive pro is easy. When Robson won junior Wimbledon in 2008 she was competing in her first ever Grand Slam. She was un-seeded and, at 14, the youngest player in the competition. Since then the level of pressure and expectation that accompanies any Robson match has gone off the scale.
Her attempt to defend her Wimbledon title last year ended in a shock second-round defeat. The 2009 US Open saw her reach the junior semi-finals, with her friend and rival Heather Watson going on to take the title. And she has lost the last two Australian Open junior finals in the city where she was born.
Interspersed with her junior schedule, Robson has been dipping her toe in the waters of the senior tour. A run to the quarter-finals at last year’s second-tier ITF event in Minsk will have done her confidence no harm, as will her performance at January’s Hopman Cup where she defeated world number 26 Maria Jose Martinez in straight sets during the final against Spain.
Recently introduced rules aimed at preventing ‘burn-out’ will limit Robson to 12 senior tournaments this year. With this legislation protecting her from the pressure to take things too fast, 2010 looks set to be a year of fine-tuning as she and her team methodically plot their way to the top.
The shots
Whether in victory or defeat there is rarely much to criticise about left-hander Robson’s solid technique, impressive touch and instinctive court sense. Off the ground she has power and consistency. The forehand is without doubt a lethal weapon and her booming 170kph first serve has enabled her to bulldoze her way through many a junior match.
What is particularly exciting is the development of her supposedly weaker wing, the backhand. The Hopman Cup mixed doubles tie against Germany saw a sequence of backhand service returns from Robson that Murray clearly would like to have hit himself. Stretched wide into the trams, Robson would flick her wrists to unleash full-pelt two-handed shots that fired all the pace of the serve back past the opposition and out through their tramlines to thump against the hoardings.
Few juniors coming through today feel 100% comfortable at the net, but Robson is developing her confidence and her touch on the volley. January saw her get several doubles matches – both ladies and mixed – under her belt and her singles game will no doubt benefit from growing assurance inside the service box.
The staunchest of critics could perhaps say that Robson’s second serve needs work, but it is questionable whether it is physical or indeed mental adjustments that are most needed.
The movement
An area that those within – and without – the Robson camp agree can be improved is her all-round athleticism on the court. At 5ft 11in Robson cuts an imposing figure, however her height, at current, is also proving something of a hindrance. The 16-year-old has grown several inches just in the last year and is, understandably, still discovering how to make her newly-formed physique work for her.
She is perhaps at her weakest when attempting to rebalance, change direction and regain position after being forced wide on either wing, something that the world’s top players would ruthlessly exploit. Though not slow, Robson is not one of the quicker juniors coming through. And she certainly doesn’t have the effortless athleticism that Murray brings to court.
But then again, neither did he when he was 16. We mustn’t forget that the same Andy Murray that is consistently spoken of as ‘the fittest player on tour’, the same Murray that chases down lost causes to convert them into jaw-dropping winners, is the Murray who used to consistently run out of steam when a match went beyond three hours, the Murray who looked a ragged weakling in comparison to Rafael Nadal’s muscular bulk when he first joined the senior tour.
Robson’s quietly determined coach, Dutchman Martijn Bok, says that 2010 is more about physical development than working on tennis skills, with training split between the LTA headquarters in Roehampton and the Mouratoglou academy outside Paris. Speed, stamina and agility work have undoubtedly transformed Murray’s game – if Robson is as switched on as she seems then she will give the punishing regime that Bok has planned everything she’s got.
The mind
Reviews of Robson’s Australian Open final this year unanimously included suggestions of the 16-year-old beating herself. The first set saw snatched balls, rackets banged on the floor and a constant self-admonishing tirade that appeared to take more out of her than physically hitting the tennis balls.
The more Robson beat herself up, the more her – 22 months older – opponent Karolina Pilskova was able to relax and hit freely. By the time Robson had got her mood in check in the second set she had set herself a towering mountain to climb. Upon losing the second set tie-break with a double fault, tears ensued.
Again, her tendency to let her emotions get the better of her is not unusual for a precocious would-be champion. We need look no further than the epitome of grace that is Roger Federer for someone with racket-smashing and self-loathing in his teenage past.
As Robson progresses physically and matures tactically, so too must she learn how to channel her potentially destructive perfectionism into the positive energy that creates champions.
Slowly does it
Pat Cash has spoken of a ‘certain something’ that Robson exudes when she walks on court, a fear factor that she seems able to instil even in more experienced opponents – as if they can sense that they are facing someone who will go on to greatness. This is something Cash says he saw in the young Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis before they each went on to world number one and multiple Grand Slams.
The biggest threat to Robson achieving greatness is in going for glory too soon. The lessons she will learn on the junior tour are – for now – just as important as the high profile opportunities she will have on the senior tour. The physical development and mental strengthening that coach Bok has highlighted are not quick fixes – but they are absolutely crucial to Robson fulfilling her potential.
If she can batten down the hatches, shut out the impatient pressure of a nation, and carry on doing things her way, then there is nothing to suggest Robson can’t compete at the very top of the game.
As for a British female Grand Slam victory? Certainly not this year, probably not the next, but one day, she may just do it.