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WIMBLEDON

July 1, 2010

Laura Robson

LONDON, ENGLAND

L. ROBSON/T. Moore
7-5, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Laura for you.

Q. How are you feeling today?
LAURA ROBSON: I'm feeling pretty good. I thought I played better in the second set. But she came out firing. You know, she served really well. It's good to get through it, because it was tough playing another British girl.

Q. What did you find tough about it?
LAURA ROBSON: She can hit the ball so hard, especially off her forehand, and she's got great timing. So it's really hard to adjust to that.

Q. It suddenly all seemed to click for you at the end of the first set. Was there something that happened, change of mentality?
LAURA ROBSON: I think I started serving better, you know, with placement and everything, and returning a bit better. Just generally making a few more balls and making the rallies longer for her so then she didn't really have a chance to end them quickly.
But, uhm, I think she played well in the first set, as well. So it was tough to get into it.

Q. How confident are you you will be able to repeat your success in 2008?
LAURA ROBSON: I think that's still quite a way off. It's only semis against a Japanese girl who has done really well so far. I've never really seen this girl play, the one I'm playing tomorrow. I'll try to get a few tips. I think my coach went to watch her today if she didn't finish before me.
But, yeah, I'm sure it will be really tough.

Q. I think we probably know the answer to this, but do you agree with the BBC's man's rather ungallant comments that your weight was affecting your game?
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, I've spoken to the guy who said it. It's not a big deal. It doesn't bother me at all.

Q. There was a suggestion it affected how you play.
LAURA ROBSON: Uhm, it's just his opinion. You know, I don't really care.
THE MODERATOR: I think that's enough on that particular subject. Stick with the tennis.

Q. We've just seen Serena Williams do a similar thing to you. She was a break down in the first set, and came back to take it tight in the first set. Maybe a bit obvious, but how important a skill is that, to be able to turn around, have confidence you can turn around a first set rather than just waiting for the next one?
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, I was watching Serena when I was stretching after my match. You know, Kvitkova was playing really well. She went down a break down at the start, didn't she, and then she fought back and broke Serena, which is incredibly hard to do.
So, uhm, I mean, it's really tough to just stay mentally stable enough so you can keep playing solid enough and keep trying to stick with them until maybe they make a few more mistakes and you start playing a few more winners or something.

Q. How pleased are you with the way you've coped with the physical demands of the last 10, 12 days, playing both the juniors and on the senior tournament as well?
LAURA ROBSON: I lost first round in everything in seniors, so it wasn't that physically demanding (laughter). But so far in juniors, it's been okay. Yesterday was a tough match. Today, the first set was tougher, as well.
So I'm just going to try to recover as best as I can for tomorrow.

Q. Obviously you're playing your semi tomorrow. Andy is playing his. How do you think he's going to do?
LAURA ROBSON: I think it's going to be a really tough match for him. I think he has a really good chance with how he's playing at the moment. You know, I'll try to watch his match if I can.

Q. It's the first time for over 35 years that Britain have had representatives in both the boys and the girls semifinals. Do you feel a sense of camaraderie with Ollie, or are you both just doing your own thing?
LAURA ROBSON: I saw him actually as he was walking back and I was walking to the court. I said, Well done to him. He said, Good luck, et cetera.
Uhm, but, you know, I saw a few games of his match, and he's playing really well at the moment. I don't know who he's playing tomorrow, but I'm sure he's going to do extremely well.

Q. Can I ask what you think about the treatment of female tennis players in the media in general? Do you think they get treated differently by commentators at all?
LAURA ROBSON: In what way?

Q. Just the attitude of the media towards female players, is it different than that of men?
LAURA ROBSON: No, I don't think so. Everyone has their own opinion. But, I mean, so far for me it's been okay.

Q. Do you think somebody would have made those comments about a male player?
LAURA ROBSON: Yeah, I think if they thought it, then they'd say whatever was on their mind.

Q. You mentioned mental stability earlier on in your games. Do you think playing in the ladies has helped you with your mental stability when playing in the juniors?
LAURA ROBSON: I definitely think it helps in terms of experience and dealing with bigger situations, bigger matches like last week.
Uhm, but, you know, it also helps that I know that I have a good enough serve to be able to hit an ace or an unreturnable serve when I am breakpoint down. So just having that in the back of my mind always helps, and that keeps me stable.

Q. What will you do to relax tonight and take your mind off the semifinal?
LAURA ROBSON: Well, I'm going to go practice in a bit and just hit a few more forehands. Uhm, I think we have people coming round for dinner, which, I mean, is every night in our house. During Wimbledon, it's ridiculous.

Q. One way or another, do you think Britain will have a champion at Wimbledon before the weekend is out?
LAURA ROBSON: Hopefully, yeah. I'd like to think so. Uhm, I think we've all got a good chance, to be honest.

Q. Oliver showed us yesterday his impressions. Do you have any off-court talents you can tell us about?
LAURA ROBSON: I've seen Ollie do other impressions. I don't know who he did yesterday, but I've seen him do a British Airways flight attendant, which is a quite a good one.
Yeah, I used to play the saxophone. I guess that's an okay talent to have. But I kind of stopped that, as it's hard to travel with a big saxophone.

Q. Like Lisa Simpson?
LAURA ROBSON: Well, I would ideally like to be able to play like her, but I wasn't quite that good.

End of FastScripts

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