Laura Robson pulled no punches, admitting she had let herself down following another Grand Slam first-round exit, this time at Wimbledon.
Struggling for form and fitness and with her ranking down at 189, Robson was handed a wildcard for this year’s All England Championships.
She was drawn to face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia on day one but it proved to be a fleeting appearance for the Brit as she crashed out 6-4 6-2 in one hour and six minutes.
The loss continued a wretched Grand Slam record for the 23-year-old, who has not progressed past the first round in her last seven attempts, a run dating back to the US Open in 2013.
That same year Robson also reached the fourth round at Wimbledon but she cut a very different figure on the grass courts this time around.
“I just didn’t feel like I played my best tennis at all,” she said.
“It wasn’t the way that I’ve been playing the last few weeks even. So I do feel like I let myself down a bit out there.
“I just never really let myself get into the match. I was just a bit overwhelmed with nerves when I first got out there, then tried to play too perfect when really I didn’t need to go for so much.
“I thought I had a really good chance. With the way that I’d been playing the last few weeks, there is no reason I couldn’t have won that match.
“It just gets a hold of you. Once you start trying to overhit it, try to play too perfect, it’s tough to get out of that.”
Robson’s woes began as early as the opening game when she was broken first up.
It proved to be the only break of serve in the set but it was still enough for her Brazilian opponent to take an early lead.
Inconsistencies persisted for the Brit in the second and she was forced to serve to stay in the match at 5-1.
That reprieve was only short lived though, despite Haddad- Maia needing five match points to wrap up proceedings in the next game.
And while Robson will return to Wimbledon in the doubles later this week alongside compatriot Jocelyn Rae, the Olympic mixed doubles silver medallist revealed she intends to return to lower-level singles events in the coming months to work on her ranking.
“I’m dropping back again after this to try and get more matches and get my ranking up,” she added.
“I’m going to be out in the States, so it’s not really like a massive hardship or anything. I enjoy the tournaments and I enjoy trying to grind through as many matches as I can, get as many wins.
“To be honest, I’m trying to get my ranking up so that next year hopefully I won’t need a wild card, so I feel like I really deserve to be here.”
- SSE, the energy behind Andy Murray Live 2017 returns for a second year to The SSE Hydro in Glasgow. SSE do more for their customers, providing access to exclusive sport and entertainment reward offers and they’re giving customers the chance to win amazing experience packages to this year’s already sold out event.
- Sign up to #SSEReward now for free ssereward.com/competition
