Ever since her stunning 2008 Junior Wimbledon triumph at just 14 years of age, I – along with many others – have been playing a waiting game. Waiting for the moment when Laura Robson truly breaks through onto the big stage. Some expected that it might have happened already – but for me, that was unrealistic. The fact is that it is now far harder for teen phenoms to rapidly rip into the WTA’s top tier immediately after tasting junior success.
I have been fortunate to witness Robson’s potential and development first-hand, as she has featured prominently in my Wimbledon commentary work over the past few years. Not just that unexpected junior title three years ago, but I also had the pleasure of holding the mic when, as a 15-year-old wildcard, Robson pushed Daniela Hantuchova to three sets in 2009. I was also there when Robson celebrated her maiden Grand Slam main draw victory at this year’s Championships.
Robson has had some setbacks – many due to injury – over these past few years, but her progress has still been very good. She first broke the world’s top 200 back in 2009 and after an injury-troubled start to 2011 that saw her ranking drop back down to a low of 269, Robson turned things around well as the season wore on, winning that first-ever Grand Slam main draw match at Wimbledon against Angelique Kerber, before playing Maria Sharapova tough in the second round. At the U.S. Open, Robson successfully qualified for the main draw after losing in the final round in the previous two years. It was a satisfying moment, and she wasn’t finished there, moving past another top 50 player, Ayumi Morita on the way to round two.
During the WTA’s Asian swing, Robson snared two more impressive scalps (Alexandra Dulgheru and Petra Martic) to further underline her quality. In her last event of 2011, Robson scored a win over fellow Brit, Heather Watson at the ITF event in Barnstaple, en route to the quarterfinals. Ranked at No. 131, Robson ended the 2011 season as the highest-ranked 17-year-old in the WTA list. The next player of the same age, Germany’s Annika Beck, is ranked over 100 places beneath her.
All this adds to my hunch that 2012 will prove to be a highly significant year for Robson. Come the end of January, she will have turned 18 years of age, and so will finally be freed from the shackles of the WTA’s age eligibility rules, which have until now restricted the number of professional tournaments that she can play each calendar year.
With no ranking points to defend in the first few months of 2012, a decent run of results should allow Robson to break into the WTA top 100 for the first time. For any player, that is a memorable achievement in itself, but for someone with Robson’s potential, what is more important is that she would gain direct entry into all the Grand Slams without having to negotiate tricky qualifying events.
Of course nothing is guaranteed, but Robson has so many tremendous qualities. She is blessed with a relatively tall frame and a loose left arm. Robson possesses heaps of easy power in her sweetly-timed groundstrokes and her short backswing also means that it is often tough for opponents to pick her shot direction. She has a sharp wit about her and evidently enjoys playing on the grandest stages the sport has to offer.
I have been impressed with how Robson’s management at Octagon have handled her off-court work this year. The amount of media interviews she has done have been kept well under control, giving the British press limited opportunity to create even greater expectation, if that were possible. The result is that Robson has been largely left to focus on her tennis.
Robson has also benefited from the fact that she can now share the glare of the media spotlight with Watson, who broke into the world’s top 100 in June and currently sits at No. 93 in the rankings.
The most fascinating thing about Robson is how much she can still improve. At the head of this is her movement, which despite some progress remains the main weakness going forward. In this regard, she is hindered by a relative lack of strength in her lower body. Robson isn’t that naturally quick around the court and certainly doesn’t have the ability that Watson, for example, has in this area.
But that doesn’t mean that Robson can’t get better. If more footwork fitness drills and leg strength training with her coach, Luke Milligan and fitness trainer, Steve Coetze result in even small improvements, it can yield huge benefits for Robson.
Why? Well, firstly because it would then help Robson with her defensive skills, which are the other noticeable weakness in her game. Robson has top 20 quality when she can dictate points with her sweetly-timed groundstrokes. But she is currently not nearly as effective when on the defensive. Particularly in today’s game, that can be a problem.
Secondly, I am also concerned that Robson appears more injury-prone than most. For example, a stomach muscle injury ruined her early 2011 campaign, while Robson’s latest ailment (a stress fracture of her left shin that caused her to miss a planned trip to Darren Cahill’s Adidas training camp in Las Vegas) doesn’t exactly provide reassurance. Now, these injuries may well be related to mere growing pains. But what is clear is that improved conditioning would also make Robson less likely to encounter problems like these.
Robson’s serve is pretty good, but I can’t help thinking that she should be able to get even more out of it. During her junior title success back in 2008, the thing that consistently fired for Robson throughout was her lefty delivery. Even then, it was a formidable weapon. Of course there is more pressure on it now, but I still think it is an area for improvement.
All in all, that may seem like a long list of criticisms to level at a 17-year-old already ranked inside the world’s top 150. But for me, it’s actually a huge positive for Robson and her supporters because it shows the strength of her potential and how good she could be. Very rarely does any player arrive with everything in one complete package. My belief is that even with small improvements in the areas above, Robson will definitely be one to watch in 2012.
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Guy McCrea is a contributing writer at On the Baseline Tennis News and a commentator on WTA tennis for television and radio. Follow Guy on Twitter: @GuyMcCreaTennis
