Laura Robson will go into next week’s Wimbledon Championships with a point to prove.
Just hours after losing her long awaited comeback match in comprehensive fashion to Russia’s Daria Gavrilova in the first qualifying round of the AEGON International at Eastbourne on Saturday, the 21-year-old from Wimbledon was handed an unexpected wildcard to the SW19 grand slam event.
Former British number one Robson has been sidelined for 17 months with a wrist injury, but was happy to be back on the court despite taking just one game during the straight sets (6-0, 6-1) defeat to world number 41 ranked Gavrilova.
Robson saud: “It was a victory to just finish a match and be back on court, back playing tournaments and I’m very happy.
“I still went out there with the intention of winning. You never go out there just hoping to get through.
“It was a lot closer than the score suggested, that’s the way I thought anyway, and I’ve come out, I know what I can do and I still have so much work to do.”
Robson, who won the Wimbledon title as a junior in 2008, reached the fourth round on her last appearance at the All England Club in 2013.
And she is looking forward to making her return back to her favourite tournament: “I’ll have another week of practice and go out there with the best intention,” Robson added.
“I think it’s everything when you’re playing a match, it’s very different from playing points, and hopefully it will improve.”
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