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WIMBLEDON


June 22, 2013


Laura Robson


LONDON, ENGLAND

THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  This week Heather was having a bit of a chat, and she said that Nick Bollettieri keeps calling her and telling her that she needs to be nastier.  All that friendly bit isn't really the way of success with players.  On a day where Maria Sharapova has taken another swipe at Serena, have you ever been told to get a bit nastier?
LAURA ROBSON:  Uhm, I've heard it before, but I think you can keep, you know, the unfriendliness to when you're on court and then be, you know, civil outside of it.
But, no, uhm, I think everyone takes it very seriously on court and is very competitive, and that's how it should be.

Q.  Can you fill us in on your partnership with Miles Maclagan?  Has he given you any interesting pointers at the moment?
LAURA ROBSON:  Well, it's only been just over a week.  We're still getting to know each other.  It's temporary for the moment.  We'll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks.
But, yeah, we're getting on well.  I think so far, uhm, the tennis side of things is going pretty well.  My serve is looking a little bit better.  And, uhm, yeah, still a couple more days to work on things before my match.

Q.  Do you think this is the right time in your career to be experimenting with different coaches?  It's a formative stage of your career, isn't it?
LAURA ROBSON:  I think you need to find the best person you possibly can, and, you know, someone you get along with, but also someone who has experience, uhm, someone who is prepared to be pretty tough on court, as well.
And, uhm, I think, you know, so far that's been Miles.  But we'll see how it goes.

Q.  Was it Andy's suggestion or was this purely your choice?
LAURA ROBSON:  My choice.  Yeah, I didn't ask Andy about it.

Q.  Have you spoken to him about it, what he brought to Andy's game?
LAURA ROBSON:  Yeah.  I know how he worked with Andy and everything.  That was obviously good for a couple years.  But, yeah, I haven't spoken to Andy about it.

Q.  Can you talk about the draw.  Doesn't appear to have been hugely kind to you.  Can you talk about Kirilenko a bit.
LAURA ROBSON:  She's playing very good at the moment.  Has had some good results this year.  It's going to be tough.
I just have to go out there with confidence and play my own game, and, yeah, you know, just give everything.

Q.  Much the same way you did at the US Open against big names?
LAURA ROBSON:  Pretty much.  I think if you play anybody ranked higher than you, you have to go out there with that mindset.

Q.  Does it take more pressure off you playing someone ranked higher?
LAURA ROBSON:  No, not really, because I've beaten higher‑ranked players before.  I think a lot of people are expecting me to do pretty well here.
So I'm just going to focus on my own thing, yeah, and just play as best I can on the day.

Q.  (Question regarding the home crowd.)
LAURA ROBSON:  The home crowd?  I love it.  The Olympics last year was like the best crowd any of the Brits has ever had.  Yeah, it would be great if they brought that kind of atmosphere on Tuesday.
But any support is good support, I think.

Q.  Maria Sharapova earlier said that she thought there was no reason you shouldn't be top 10, top 5, even No.1 in the world.  Do you think your career is on the right kind of line at the moment?  Is it meeting your expectations?
LAURA ROBSON:  I'm not thinking too far ahead at the moment.  You know, I'm still ranked 37 or something like that, so I've still got a long way to go, a lot of things that I need to improve.
So, yeah, you know, I'm just looking ahead to the next two weeks.  After that, then, you know, try and get as much training done before the US Open Series.

Q.  What's the difference between an Olympic crowd and a Wimbledon crowd?
LAURA ROBSON:  I think there was a lot of people at the Olympics who hadn't been to a tennis match before.  I think they got into it a bit more.  Everyone was obviously very patriotic at the time.  There was a group of people that sang the national anthem at my first match.  I don't think that's going to be happening on Tuesday (smiling).
But, yeah, it's just, uhm, a different crowd, but both are good.

Q.  There was a big rugby match this morning.  Do your parents make you watch it in a separate room?
LAURA ROBSON:  My mum doesn't watch rugby at all.  My dad would have been glued to the TV this morning, as was my brother.

Q.  And about the result?
LAURA ROBSON:  I don't know who won.

Q.  You guys won.
LAURA ROBSON:  Oh, Lions?  Okay, no, that's good.  My dad won't be overly happy.  But, you know, I don't watch rugby, so I'm really not that into it.

Q.  Parents here?
LAURA ROBSON:  My dad will be, yes.  He gets here tonight, but my mum was with me last week, so she's going to stay and look after the dogs in Greece.

Q.  How are you dealing with the great national expectations?
LAURA ROBSON:  I don't think I'm doing too badly.  I think I'm just focusing on my own game and just getting stuck in training.
Yeah, you know, just not really looking too much online or anything like that.  Not watching a lot of TV at the moment.
Uhm, yeah, I think it's going to stay like that for the next couple of weeks.

Q.  Are you playing doubles here?
LAURA ROBSON:  Yes, with Lisa Raymond.  I'm going to sign in for mixed with Colin Fleming.

Q.  Getting back to the friendliness thing, you and Heather are still buddies.  Once you played a match at a lower level, but still you can be convivial off the court?
LAURA ROBSON:  Yeah, it's fine.  I think it's really easy for us because we've known each other for so long that you kind of are able to separate, uhm, the on‑court side of things and off court.
I've played Genie Bouchard.  I played her already this year, and we're fine.  So, yeah, some people have different ways of dealing with it.

Q.  When you see Serena and Maria taking sort of cat jabs at each other, what are the rest of the girls thinking?
LAURA ROBSON:  I don't know.  You'd have to ask them.

Q.  Well, I'm asking you.  What do you think about it?
LAURA ROBSON:  I don't even know what was said today, so I literally came in here and the first thing I heard about it was your question.
Yeah, you know, you just have to speak to either of them to discuss what was going on.  I don't know.

Q.  Are you interested or do you just say, It's none of my business?
LAURA ROBSON:  It's none of my business.  I don't think anyone's really that bothered.

Q.  How good friends are you with Tara Moore?
LAURA ROBSON:  Tara?  Yeah, we get on well.  We both train at the national center, so we see each other a lot.  She's done really well over the grass season.  Hopefully she'll do well here.

Q.  Can you get out and about much during Wimbledon and socialize or do you have to sort of lock yourself away?
LAURA ROBSON:  Uhm, during the tournament, I stay at home.  Uhm, yeah, I've stayed at home the last couple of nights already.  But I'm planning on seeing Despicable Me II tonight.  It should be good.  I don't know what your opinions are on cartoon movies.  It's Pixar, isn't it?

Q.  Big gang of you?
LAURA ROBSON:  One of my friends, who I used to play with when we were like 12, she does the stats here, so we're going to go.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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