STUART FRASER

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TENNIS
LAURA ROBSON LOSES AUSTRALIAN OPEN FINAL
BritishTennis.net
By Stuart Fraser in Melbourne
1^st February 2009

British Junior Laura Robson yesterday fell just short in her attempt to clinch her second Junior Girls’ title at the Australian Open after a 6 – 3, 6 – 1 defeat to Ksenia Pervak of Russia in the final.

The Rod Laver Arena played host to the final which was always expected to be a tough match for 15-year-old Robson who was facing an opponent two years older and who was already ranked at 154 in the Senior WTA rankings.

Robson quickly found herself two breaks down at 0 – 3 in the first set, although this was no strange situation for the Brit as she had came back from similar situations in her earlier matches during the week.

Robson did indeed manage to close the gap to 3 – 4 but too many unforced errors combined with a lack of rhythm meant that she lost the next two games and the opening set.

The Brit was showing signs of frustration on court and frequently yelled out and bounced her racket off the court and things got no better for her in the second set with Pervak going 4 – 0 up.

Although Robson managed to claim one of the breaks back, she immediately handed it back to the Russian who then served out to clinch the match and the title.

Robson will be disappointed to have not really got going at all in the match however she can take heart from her performances this week in the extreme heat in Melbourne which have all helped to confirm that she is indeed Britain’s biggest future female prospect for several years.