Laura Robson seeks consistency as Wimbledon looms

BRITISH women’s No 1 Laura Robson will focus on improving her consistency as she continues to work with new coach Miles Maclagan ahead of her return to Wimbledon.

Laura Robson: Working with new coach. Picture: Getty

The 19-year-old claimed a silver medal alongside Andy Murray in the mixed doubles at the All England Club during last year’s Olympic Games, and began training with the Scot’s former mentor last week after splitting from Croatian Zeljko Krajan.

Robson, ranked 37th in the world, is hoping to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time and recent tournament wins over Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska, at the Australian Open and Madrid Open respectively, have taught the teenager where she needs to improve.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: “They just have a lot more experience and if you come out firing in the first set they generally have back up.

“They always give themselves the best chance to win. I think consistency is probably the biggest difference in terms of switching from juniors to seniors and from lower-ranked to higher-ranked.

“So I’m just trying to focus on being a bit more consistent in the next weeks.”

Robson revealed Murray had played no part in introducing her to Maclagan, a former British Davis Cup player. “I didn’t speak to Andy,” she said. “I just thought it would be a good thing to have for the next couple of weeks and I really respect Miles’ opinions.”

The left-handed Londoner will not let herself be affected by the kind of home pressure that has followed Murray’s grand slam career so closely. She added: “I think wherever you’re from, your own country focuses on you. Li Na definitely has it the worst coming from China – it’s crazy – and we just try and focus on our own game.”

Robson recalled her experience at the London Games, at which she partnered Murray to a semi-final victory over German pair Sabine Lisicki and Christopher Kas, only to miss out on gold to Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi, of Belarus.

“It was the best tournament I’ve played in, and I had such a great time and managed to do really well,” she said.

“So I’m just trying to take the confidence that I had there into my other tournaments.”

Robson’s next appointment is this week’s Aegon Classic tournament in Edgbaston, Birmingham, where the number seven seed has received a bye into the second round.