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WIMBLEDONJuly 3, 2008Laura RobsonLONDON, ENGLAND L. ROBSON/B. Jovanovski 7-5, 6-4 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Laura. Q. How are you feeling? LAURA ROBSON: A bit nervous being in here again. But, yeah, for my match, it was interesting. I mean, my coach said, as well, not a good idea to go a break down in both sets, but the crowd loved it, so... Q. So you like creating drama, do you? LAURA ROBSON: No, I wouldn't say I like it. But, yeah, it seems to happen. Q. You did very well to recover against I think maybe the toughest player you've played so far. She had a very big serve. What were your tactics today? LAURA ROBSON: I think her backhand was weaker than her forehand, so I just tried to go to that corner more often. And then attacking her second serve, as well. Q. Are you getting more comfortable, not just in this environment, but also on court with lots of people watching you, being in a big stage? LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, slightly more comfortable. It's still quite nerve-wracking, but I'm getting used to it now. Q. You got this far without dropping a set. That must be very satisfying. LAURA ROBSON: I think it's been pretty close matches anyway, though. So I don't really think that dropping a set would make any difference. Q. You're very vocal with yourself when you're playing. Do you consider yourself sort of an emotional player? LAURA ROBSON: Yeah (smiling). I've tried to work on that quite a bit, like quieting down a lot. It's just a bit of a habit, so we're trying to change it. Q. Where would you like to be in about 18 months' time? What is sort of your plan, your schedule? LAURA ROBSON: Well, juniors, I'm looking to be more top 10, and then at the end of this year I'll start playing Senior Tournament. Hopefully get a world ranking. So top 500 would be nice. Q. Senior when you're, what, 15 then? LAURA ROBSON: Yeah. Q. That doesn't scare you at all? LAURA ROBSON: Not really. Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your interests outside of tennis, what you like to do when you're not on the court. LAURA ROBSON: I don't really have that much free time anyway. I used to do horse riding. Then I can play the saxophone, as well, so... Q. What do you play on the saxophone? LAURA ROBSON: Just theme tunes, yeah. Just general stuff. Q. Any in particular? LAURA ROBSON: The Simpson's. Q. You're not modeling yourself on Lisa Simpson, are you? LAURA ROBSON: No, no (smiling). Q. How important are your family? Your mother was obviously there shouting encouragement from the sides. LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, she can get quite vocal sometimes. She's just there for supporting. And then my brother's watched me this week for the first time in about four years. He's enjoying it as well. Q. Did you know that Virginia Wade was also watching you yesterday? LAURA ROBSON: I didn't, actually. I think if someone would have told me about that that I would have got slightly more nervous. It's probably good that no one told me. Q. Can you remember the first time you were aware of Wimbledon, maybe when you were little, seeing it on tele? LAURA ROBSON: Probably the first year we moved to England, when I was about six. I moved here in the summer, so we spent the whole summer watching it. And then it was just like so big, so traditional and everything. So it was really nice to play it. Q. Any particular players or matches that you remember? LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, not really. My memory's not great, but definitely Hingis playing. That was probably one of the biggest things I saw. Q. She's kind of one of your role models, I guess? LAURA ROBSON: I practiced with her for a week in her home in Switzerland, so I know her quite well. Watching her matches is always good. Q. Two more matches between you and the championship here. Do you think you can do it? LAURA ROBSON: I'd like to. I think tomorrow's gonna be a really tough match again. I'm just going to take it match by match really. If I can win tomorrow, then that would be amazing. But just not get ahead of myself. Q. But beating the top seed must give you a tremendous amount of confidence. LAURA ROBSON: Yeah. I think there's a lot of other good players, as well, though, so... Q. How far did you think you'd get this year? LAURA ROBSON: Definitely not semis, so that's pretty good that I've done that. But I was looking for third round, quarters. So semis is really, really good. Q. Is it a bit strange being with everyone older than you, all the people playing are older than you? You're the youngest person in the draw. LAURA ROBSON: I don't think it really matters how old I am. Because I've been playing the same girls since the start of the year, so I'm used to playing them. Q. So you're not daunted by the fact you're playing 17s and 18s? LAURA ROBSON: Not really. Q. What would you say is the strongest part of your game and also the weakest? LAURA ROBSON: I've improved my serve a lot, so I think that's becoming one of my strongest points. And then I'm working a lot on my movement, so that's probably one of the weakest points. Q. Does tennis feel almost like a full-time job already for you? LAURA ROBSON: Pretty much. I mean, I'm at the national center just about every day. If I'm not there, then I'm traveling at tournaments or something. It's a full-time job. Q. How much time do you spend on your schooling? I understand you do school from home. LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, I do about three or four hours a day, then tutoring as well. So I'm doing GCSEs a year early next year. Q. How many subjects are you doing? LAURA ROBSON: Four, and then two more in the year after. Q. What are your best subjects? LAURA ROBSON: Not many (smiling). I would say the maths definitely isn't a strong point, but English I'm okay on. Q. Do you think once you get to GCSEs you'll sort of call it a day, or could you imagine going further? LAURA ROBSON: I think I'll probably do something else, so if I ever get injured or anything in tennis I'll always have a backup. Q. How important is it to do the kind of things that other girls your age are doing away from obviously being really serious about your tennis, like going to the cinema or doing that other 14-year-old girls might be doing? LAURA ROBSON: I still get to do that, maybe just not as often as other 14-year-olds. But I still have a bit of a life. Q. Listening to music? What sort of things do you do to relax and get away from tennis? LAURA ROBSON: iPod's definitely a big part of that. Films. I have my whole DVD collection, which is ginormous, that I always take with me to tournaments. Q. What is your most frequently played song at the moment? LAURA ROBSON: I've got about 50, so I don't think I can name any of them. Q. You think we wouldn't have heard of them? LAURA ROBSON: I'm sure you would have (laughter). But, yeah, I've got so many. Q. I remember Martina Hingis winning the French junior championship when she was 12 years old. I was there that year. Then of course she came onto the Pro Tour very young. Only one person was younger than she was when she first won Wimbledon in the history of the game. When you were training, did you talk to her about her early days, starting off very young? Did that crop up at all? LAURA ROBSON: She said that when she played it was quite a different game because she could win on just playing smart. But I think now you have to be a lot stronger than she was and also just -- yeah, I think now's a different game to when she played. Q. She never had a big serve. I think that was possibly one of the few things she lacked. She had to be pretty smart with that. From what I've seen of you, you have a very good first serve, haven't you? LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, yeah, I guess so (laughter). Q. Which is a tremendous advantage, obviously, because a lot of people wished Martina had a very good first serve. Would have been made life easier for her, especially playing the Williams sisters as often as she did. LAURA ROBSON: Yeah. Q. Are your friends all very impressed with your achievements, school friends, friends outside of tennis? LAURA ROBSON: Away from tennis? Q. Yes. LAURA ROBSON: They're quite impressed. I mean, I came off court today and I had about 25 text messages, all from them, saying they were all watching on BBC. So I'm getting a lot of support from that. Q. Is it a bit scary to have your matches on BBC? LAURA ROBSON: Yeah. I'm watching what I say, as well, because yesterday I made a comment which I shouldn't have about how I thought one of the umpires wasn't really seeing that well (smiling). Yeah, so... And then I got a couple texts after the match saying, Yeah, Laura, I don't think you should have said that. So I have to watch what I say a bit more. Q. You have to be a quick learner. Seems like you're being bombarded by new experiences here. LAURA ROBSON: A bit. I'm going to have to get used to it in the future anyway. So it's good to do that now. Q. If you could pick a junior title to win, any title, would it be here? LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, definitely, 'cause this is like my home tournament, my local tournament, seeing as I live five minutes away. But definitely Wimbledon because it's the most traditional as well. Q. How much of a support have your family been? I think you've got quite a sporty family, haven't you? How much support have they given you over the years? LAURA ROBSON: A lot. I mean, my biggest supporting team ever. They're like so good now. And then my sister, who's at university in Australia, has come over here to watch me play. Then my cousin's here. They're just really good. End of FastScripts |
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