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Post Info TOPIC: Laura Robson


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RE: Laura Robson


In view of the fact that Laura has an unfulfilled  but what should been a great  career does anybody think that the success of Johanna Konta must grate on Laura. I think Heather Watson was more of a friendly rivalry. Certainly in peak Laura  2012 and 2013 , Heather was seen as a friendly rival whereas JoKo was virtually non existent. This was brought out in an article in the Wimbledon programme of 2013 by Mike Dickson entitled "Hope Springs ". Most of the article is about Laura and Heather. Looking for anybody who might provide some  competition for them the   2 names  mentioned are  JoKo  and  Tara Moore. But that occupies about 1 sentence.



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ROSAMUND wrote:

In view of the fact that Laura has an unfulfilled  but what should been a great  career does anybody think that the success of Johanna Konta must grate on Laura. I think Heather Watson was more of a friendly rivalry. Certainly in peak Laura  2012 and 2013 , Heather was seen as a friendly rival whereas JoKo was virtually non existent. This was brought out in an article in the Wimbledon programme of 2013 by Mike Dickson entitled "Hope Springs ". Most of the article is about Laura and Heather. Looking for anybody who might provide some  competition for them the   2 names  mentioned are  JoKo  and  Tara Moore. But that occupies about 1 sentence.


 Likewise, I expect Laura's social media and press following grates with Jo given Jo's success.



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flamingowings wrote:
ROSAMUND wrote:
flamingowings wrote:
dodrade wrote:

Pushing back against Simon Briggs of the Telegraph declaring her career all but over.

twitter.com/laurarobson5/status/1352406274865029121

twitter.com/laurarobson5/status/1352418345270829064

Even at this stage she doesn't want to abandon all hope of playing again, which is to her credit even if it seems pretty unrealistic to everyone else.


 She should be able to announce it herself (even if it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone) that she is retiring rather than a journo.


 Some players never officially announce their  retirement but just quietly fade away. At the top level of the game I don't think Monica Seles ever officIally announced her retirement.  More recently I think the same applied to Mirjana Lucic and Jelena Jakovic. However I  do agree that it is up to the player to announce their retirement and not the press making  retirement hints as Mike Dickson and Simon Briggs have done today, At least Mike Dickson's main article is about Arthur Fery.


 Safina and Jamie Hampton were other ones who either didn't announce anything or did it many years later (I think Safina may have only confirmed it last year or in 2019)


 As I recall Anastasia Myskina was another who suddenly disappeared without a trace.

 

Very sad. It would seem likely that Laura is going to become the latest victim of the curse of the talented young British girls.



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I don't think the UK is any more cursed than any other nation. Unfortunately, an awful lot of very talented, top junior players eventually have to drop out due to injury. The problem in the UK is that we have very few in total, so that the ones where it happens really stick out and we don't have enough to pick up the slack, so to speak, while the cycle turns.



-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 23rd of January 2021 11:44:14 AM

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Coup Droit wrote:

I don't think the UK is any more cursed than any other nation. Unfortunately, an awful lot of very talented, top junior players eventually have to drop out due to injury. The problem in the UK is that we have very few in total, so that the ones where it happens really stick out and we don't have enough to pick up the slack, so to speak, while the cycle turns.



-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 23rd of January 2021 11:44:14 AM


 How much of that is down to too much competitive activity at an early age and too little physical fitness? For example, comparing two talented Brits, Laura started achieving very young, whilst Jo was a late bloomer and is known for her work ethic. 



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I still think tennis as a sport puts massive strain on all sorts of muscles and bones. Younger folks are still growing and developing and it is interesting to me how players whos styles clearly look like much more effort eg Murray, nadal tend to be more injured than those whos game is more fluid and natural. Mcenroe was hardly ever injured, Federer the same although it catches up. But I think young talents must surely be more susceptible to injury than a player who perhaps comes through later but is more developed physically.

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TTMan wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:

I don't think the UK is any more cursed than any other nation. Unfortunately, an awful lot of very talented, top junior players eventually have to drop out due to injury. The problem in the UK is that we have very few in total, so that the ones where it happens really stick out and we don't have enough to pick up the slack, so to speak, while the cycle turns.



-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 23rd of January 2021 11:44:14 AM


 How much of that is down to too much competitive activity at an early age and too little physical fitness? For example, comparing two talented Brits, Laura started achieving very young, whilst Jo was a late bloomer and is known for her work ethic. 


 Yes, I think there's a lot in this, I tend to agree. 

The main point about tennis is that it's a completely asymmetric sport (unlike most other ones). 

THe amount of torque and strain that is put on one side (the hip that you plant, the shoulder that you serve with etc. etc.) is phenomenal. Players are not unbalanced in the way they used to be (there are some horrific photos of young tennis players' scoliosis in the 70s and 80s). Physical training, even at the lower ends, receives far more emphasis than it used to. 

But it can't get round the basis problem that every hour you play tennis, you're using one side to the detriment of the other (of course, some players then injure their non--playing sides, because those have become comparatively weaker and are forced to take more of the strain, because they are 'led' by the stronger side)

For growing bodies, this imbalance is a nightmare, for all tennis federations, globally, and - yes - has to taken very seriously. 



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Coup Droit wrote:

I don't think the UK is any more cursed than any other nation. Unfortunately, an awful lot of very talented, top junior players eventually have to drop out due to injury. The problem in the UK is that we have very few in total, so that the ones where it happens really stick out and we don't have enough to pick up the slack, so to speak, while the cycle turns.



-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 23rd of January 2021 11:44:14 AM


 Mentioning talented juniors back in the early 80's there was a dominant British junior called Liz Jones  and she did not make it as a senior. I can remember her being described by somebody at the time as the Greatest player Britain never had  In the days when Britain had 3 junior championships in the year  somehow or other Virginia Wade never won any of them.Talking of talented juniors what happened to Eleanor Dean? 



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TTMan wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:

I don't think the UK is any more cursed than any other nation. Unfortunately, an awful lot of very talented, top junior players eventually have to drop out due to injury. The problem in the UK is that we have very few in total, so that the ones where it happens really stick out and we don't have enough to pick up the slack, so to speak, while the cycle turns.



-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 23rd of January 2021 11:44:14 AM


 How much of that is down to too much competitive activity at an early age and too little physical fitness? For example, comparing two talented Brits, Laura started achieving very young, whilst Jo was a late bloomer and is known for her work ethic. 


 Interesting comment about work ethic. Why bring it up?



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ROSAMUND wrote:
Coup Droit wrote:

I don't think the UK is any more cursed than any other nation. Unfortunately, an awful lot of very talented, top junior players eventually have to drop out due to injury. The problem in the UK is that we have very few in total, so that the ones where it happens really stick out and we don't have enough to pick up the slack, so to speak, while the cycle turns.



-- Edited by Coup Droit on Saturday 23rd of January 2021 11:44:14 AM


 Mentioning talented juniors back in the early 80's there was a dominant British junior called Liz Jones  and she did not make it as a senior. I can remember her being described by somebody at the time as the Greatest player Britain never had  In the days when Britain had 3 junior championships in the year  somehow or other Virginia Wade never won any of them.Talking of talented juniors what happened to Eleanor Dean? 


 Talking of top juniors who gave up  too soon from the the late 1980's and early 90's the name of Sarah Loosemore comes to mind. I think she got bored with tennis and went to University.She was from a  Welsh tennis playing family and played in a WTA final in 1990. She won the British championships in 1988 at the age of 17.Ideally she should have played in the Fed Cup tie in 1988 when GB did not distinguish themselves in losing to Indonesia. In 1989 Sam Smith appeared on the scene and that could have been a good Fed Cup team but never happened. 



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Loosemore, like Annabel Croft, did indeed quit due to boredom with tour life rather than injury. She was an intelligent young woman who found the lack of stimulation and constant hotel life too much. This was also in the days before the Internet was ever heard of and no opportunity existed for online study or social media interaction with friends and family back home.

Another notable name is Sue McCarthy who was slightly older than Loosemore and Smith and rated a better prospect but had her career cut short in desperately sad circumstances when she was struck down with ME at the age of just 17. Then a few years later there was Mandy Wainwright who was highly rated, supported by Alan Jones and Jo Durie and won a round at Wimbledon at just 17 but as far as I remember lost her focus after her mother became ill and faded quickly afterwards.

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Priesty wrote:

Loosemore, like Annabel Croft, did indeed quit due to boredom with tour life rather than injury. She was an intelligent young woman who found the lack of stimulation and constant hotel life too much. This was also in the days before the Internet was ever heard of and no opportunity existed for online study or social media interaction with friends and family back home.

Another notable name is Sue McCarthy who was slightly older than Loosemore and Smith and rated a better prospect but had her career cut short in desperately sad circumstances when she was struck down with ME at the age of just 17. Then a few years later there was Mandy Wainwright who was highly rated, supported by Alan Jones and Jo Durie and won a round at Wimbledon at just 17 but as far as I remember lost her focus after her mother became ill and faded quickly afterwards.


 Mentioning Sue McCarthy made me look back on her career. She was highly rated by John Parsons  at the 1986 Maureen Connolly Trophy who wrote that she was maturing into a fine prospect. That was written on 22nd September. However an article written by Alastair McIver in September 1988 said her last tournament was at  Croydon in November 1986 when she was struck by ME.  I found a newspaper  article written in August 1992  on ME.  Sue McCarthy is mentioned and at that stage she was doing some part-time secretarial work.  She had also had to drop out of a polytechnic course. Very sad. 

Did Mandy Wainwright not  become a teacher and play in county week for Essex even though she was not playing tennis on the circuit anymore?



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ROSAMUND wrote:
Priesty wrote:

Loosemore, like Annabel Croft, did indeed quit due to boredom with tour life rather than injury. She was an intelligent young woman who found the lack of stimulation and constant hotel life too much. This was also in the days before the Internet was ever heard of and no opportunity existed for online study or social media interaction with friends and family back home.

Another notable name is Sue McCarthy who was slightly older than Loosemore and Smith and rated a better prospect but had her career cut short in desperately sad circumstances when she was struck down with ME at the age of just 17. Then a few years later there was Mandy Wainwright who was highly rated, supported by Alan Jones and Jo Durie and won a round at Wimbledon at just 17 but as far as I remember lost her focus after her mother became ill and faded quickly afterwards.


 Mentioning Sue McCarthy made me look back on her career. She was highly rated by John Parsons  at the 1986 Maureen Connolly Trophy who wrote that she was maturing into a fine prospect. That was written on 22nd September. However an article written by Alastair McIver in September 1988 said her last tournament was at  Croydon in November 1986 when she was struck by ME.  I found a newspaper  article written in August 1992  on ME.  Sue McCarthy is mentioned and at that stage she was doing some part-time secretarial work.  She had also had to drop out of a polytechnic course. Very sad. 

Did Mandy Wainwright not  become a teacher and play in county week for Essex even though she was not playing tennis on the circuit anymore?


 No idea, I remember her insistence on prioritising school exams over an LTA junior trip causing a falling out with officialdom and that she was keen on languages but don't know what happened to her after she dropped off the circuit. The last time I watched her play was when she put up a decent fight against Zina Garrison at Wimbledon in around '95 and after that she seemed to disappear from public view. Anyone else know?

By the way, sorry - I know this is a thread about Laura!!



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Priesty wrote:
ROSAMUND wrote:
Priesty wrote:

Loosemore, like Annabel Croft, did indeed quit due to boredom with tour life rather than injury. She was an intelligent young woman who found the lack of stimulation and constant hotel life too much. This was also in the days before the Internet was ever heard of and no opportunity existed for online study or social media interaction with friends and family back home.

Another notable name is Sue McCarthy who was slightly older than Loosemore and Smith and rated a better prospect but had her career cut short in desperately sad circumstances when she was struck down with ME at the age of just 17. Then a few years later there was Mandy Wainwright who was highly rated, supported by Alan Jones and Jo Durie and won a round at Wimbledon at just 17 but as far as I remember lost her focus after her mother became ill and faded quickly afterwards.


 Mentioning Sue McCarthy made me look back on her career. She was highly rated by John Parsons  at the 1986 Maureen Connolly Trophy who wrote that she was maturing into a fine prospect. That was written on 22nd September. However an article written by Alastair McIver in September 1988 said her last tournament was at  Croydon in November 1986 when she was struck by ME.  I found a newspaper  article written in August 1992  on ME.  Sue McCarthy is mentioned and at that stage she was doing some part-time secretarial work.  She had also had to drop out of a polytechnic course. Very sad. 

Did Mandy Wainwright not  become a teacher and play in county week for Essex even though she was not playing tennis on the circuit anymore?


 No idea, I remember her insistence on prioritising school exams over an LTA junior trip causing a falling out with officialdom and that she was keen on languages but don't know what happened to her after she dropped off the circuit. The last time I watched her play was when she put up a decent fight against Zina Garrison at Wimbledon in around '95 and after that she seemed to disappear from public view. Anyone else know?

By the way, sorry - I know this is a thread about Laura!!


 Agreed. Went off at a bit of a tangent over unfulfilled talents. Laura is the striking example in the 21st century but there was certainly alot in the 1980's and early 90's. 



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Mandy Wainwright is head of tennis at Bancroft's School.(googled her name)



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