http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/5711619/Wimbledon-2009-Laura-Robson-crashes-out-of-girls-singles-to-Quirine-Lemoine.htmlWimbledon 2009: Laura Robson crashes out of girls' singles to Quirine LemoineIt was a bitter-sweet tale in SW19 on Wednesday. While fans in their thousands flocked to Centre Court and Henman Hill to watch Andy Murray become the first Briton to reach the semi-final since 2002, a different story was unfolding over on Court 18 where Wimbledon sweetheart Laura Robson’s junior title defence came to an abrupt end.
Just last week the 15 year-old was rewriting the history books by becoming the youngest entrant in the women’s draw since Martina Hingis, but under the blazing heat of the intimate show court Robson struggled to make an impact on a match which ended 2-6, 6-4, 8-6.
Her opponent was Quirine Lemoine of Holland, a statuesque 17 year-old with a biting forehand - but Robson’s real enemy was her own physique. More worrying than exiting the competition in the third round was the back injury persistently interrupting Robson’s game. It flared in the first 10 minutes of the opening set and resulted in the No 2 seed being treated by her trainer at every possible interval.
Revealing the problem had started almost 10 days ago; Robson said the injury had prevented her playing her best tennis but she remained adamant that at no point had she considered withdrawing.
“It kind of gradually got worse throughout the match so it kind of got difficult for me to play and it felt like I couldn’t really hit the ball that hard, especially on my serve, so it was difficult but I wanted to keep playing,” she said.
“Why would I want to give up? There is always the chance she might have a bit of a problem and if I just keep sticking with it there is always the chance that I might win.” Her determination was admirable and the second set was a different story.
Despite indicating to her family that her back was causing her considerable discomfort, Robson had more control. Hitting her first ace of the afternoon together with a series of double faults from her Leomine, the Briton got the confidence boost she needed and she levelled things out taking the set 6-4.
She was in trouble again in the final set; broken twice early on, Robson yet again found herself behind and at 5-3 the dream of back-to-back titles looked to be over. But she wasn’t giving up just yet. The crowd behind her, Robson had kept the best until last. She broke in the 10th to pull it back to 5-5 and saved three match points before her fate was sealed.
Grateful for the fans who had remained court side despite Murray’s presence on Centre, she said: “I love the crowd. They really got behind me, especially when I saved those match points. They were pretty vocal throughout the whole match. I think it really helps and it makes me more pumped because I’ve got all these people wanting me to win.”
Robson concluded saying as a result of the injury and on the advice of her doctors she had been obliged to withdraw from the girls’ doubles in which she was paired up with Sloane Stephens of USA.
The middle bit with the quotes from Laura made me admire her even more. Especially seeing as the injury has been going on for 10 days!
