Much is expected from Robson at Wimbledon MyZA

Laura Robson at the 2008 Wimbledon championships (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Laura Robson has progressed so far in her tennis career that we expect great performances from her in the future.

Last year she beat Kim Clijsters and Li Na at the US Open before seeing off Petra Kvitova in Australia in January – and yesterday she turned in another impressive display to defeat 10th seed Maria Kirilenko 6-3 6-4 in the first round.

Robson knows she has the game to worry any of the top women but what really stood out for me was that when she was wobbling – as should only be expected given the pressure on her to succeed at Wimbledon – she still had the nerve and class to close out the match.

When it came to the crunch her serve held up, which is an incredibly good sign for the future. Great players are defined by what they do in difficult moments.

Last week Novak Djokovic came out and said ‘tennis matches are won and lost in the head’ and I thought that was a great quote. When he does lose, he always looks at what he could have done better mentally.

I believe Robson could go a long way in this tournament and even make the quarter-finals, where she could potentially face Angelique Kerber.

So I really hope she can just focus and not allow her own expectations to get out of control. – Barry Cowan