	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

WIMBLEDON

June 29, 2009

Laura Robson

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. ROBSON/K. Paliivets
6-3, 6-2

Q. Does it feel like starting all over again?
LAURA ROBSON: What, to seniors you mean?

Q. Wimbledon.
LAURA ROBSON: No (smiling). I've already been here for a week.

Q. But it's a fresh start.
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, but I've still like been here. I don't know. But yeah, it's a new tournament.

Q. Was it a bit nerve-wracking defending a title?
LAURA ROBSON: Defending it?

Q. Yeah, trying to win it again. You know, you are the champion there to be beaten.
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, but it was only first round.

Q. That's what I mean, though; every girl is playing you as the champion, aren't they?
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, I wasn't really nervous today, so it was fine.

Q. How would you rate your performance today?
LAURA ROBSON: I think I could have played a bit better, and I just -- just shot-selection wise, but for a first round match against a tricky player, I thought it was pretty good.

Q. How many autographs did you have to sign after your first round fixture in the girls' championship last summer? Because you were detained quite a long time when you came off court tonight.
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, I got a letter, as well. A young guy slipped me a letter.

Q. What was in the letter?
LAURA ROBSON: Don't know. Didn't read it.

Q. It's not a proposal, is it?
LAURA ROBSON: I wouldn't know. I hope not because then I would have to decline. (Laughter.)
No, last year I think there were still quite a few people, just like, oh, it's a tennis player, might as well get her autograph. But this year, hopefully they know who I am.

Q. Last year did you have to sign any autographs and then say who you were?
LAURA ROBSON: No, but I got a couple last year where they were like, "Yeah, can you sign this," and then they'd ask, "No, can you actually like sign your name rather than just your signature." But yeah, this year they seemed to know who I am, which is good.

Q. Have you noticed any difference in the way other girls look at you seeing as you're making that step up to the seniors?
LAURA ROBSON: No. Everyone is pretty much the same.
But like a couple of girls already in the juniors have already played Grand Slams, so it's the same for all of us. Like I think Mladenovic has played three Grand Slams.

Q. Do you feel as though you are a marked woman, a marked girl, in this championship? You are, as it's been said, the defending champion. You're there to be taken down. Last year you came onto the scene sort of under the radar. This year you're very much --
LAURA ROBSON: Well, I'm not the No. 1 seed, and I've lost to a couple of the girls in the draw, so I wouldn't say I'm the one -- I'm probably the one everyone wants to beat because I won it last year. But there's quite a few other girls in the draw that are pretty tough, too.

Q. Do you feel that weight of expectation?
LAURA ROBSON: No. Nope. Simple answer.

Q. What are your expectations then?
LAURA ROBSON: My own expectations are just to play as well as I can and then hopefully the results will come with that. And also just work on a couple things in my game.

Q. How much at this stage of your tennis do you get from a junior championship when the main draw is there to be attacked?
LAURA ROBSON: What, how much --

Q. How much benefit to your tennis development is playing a junior championship?
LAURA ROBSON: Juniors is still like a main part of my schedule, a lot bigger than seniors. So it's still the main thing that I'm going for. So at the moment juniors is still more important than seniors because I've still got like US Open Juniors coming up and everything.

Q. I spoke to Melanie Oudin that you beat in the second round last year. She decided not to this year because she had done enough juniors. Is that just an age thing?
LAURA ROBSON: No, it's up to the individual because I know Michelle Larcher De Brito stopped playing juniors when she was like 14, which in my opinion might have been a bit young because then it really limits the amount of tournaments you can play each year.
No, I mean, it's up the individual. I'm happy to keep playing juniors.

Q. After your witty exchange with an Australian at the press conference after last year's final, has there been any other attempts by any Australians to claim you as one of their own?
LAURA ROBSON: Not that I know of. I think there were a couple of journalists in Australia, and they were like "Yeah, do you still feel any connection to Australia?" And I'm like, "No. No."

Q. Will you read the letter you received or has it already gone in the bin?
LAURA ROBSON: I didn't put it in the bin. My coach took it and I don't know what he's done with it. But I think it all goes into a pile, which I might read and I might not.

Q. That's not usual, though, is it, to receive letters after you come off court presumably?
LAURA ROBSON: They don't usually personally give them to me. They usually just send them in the mail because the assistants came up to me with a massive pile after I played Daniela, and they were like, "Please, take it, it's just loading up the whole mail area." But yeah.

Q. How many would you say there were?
LAURA ROBSON: Probably about -- over 20 I'd say, but then there was like some with little stickers on them. People get quite into it.

Q. Will you be replying to them?
LAURA ROBSON: I don't know, yeah. It depends. If it's from -- no, it depends. I'll stop there.

Q. What was it like playing in the first week? You played Hantuchova, Mauresmo and Kuznetsova, then you had to go back and play a junior. Was it tough to adjust in the first few games of the match?
LAURA ROBSON: Well, I thought the girl today was tricky because she really kind of rushed on her own service game, so it was hard for me to get a rhythm the first couple games. But once I got into it, I felt that I really took control in the rallies more and that she couldn't really do anything.

Q. What about the smaller crowds? Is that noticeable when you're on court, and you're not playing on Court 2, you're on Court 14? Do you notice?
LAURA ROBSON: I don't mind which court I play on. They're all the same grass courts to me, so yeah.
It would have been a bit silly if they put me on a bigger court for my first round junior match, so it was good scheduling.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297