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I certainly expect her to get into top 10 within next 12-18 months. Whether she can really hit the heights is impossible to tell at this juncture. Tennis history is littered with those who have promised much but never truly delivered. But the signs are good.

Far too early even at this stage, the Clijsters win though good was against somebody going out of the game but Li Na is a a top tenner and that was the really great win. I agree that the Olympics and playing with a world class player in Andy Muarry did help. At the moment she still makes too many errors and thats going to hurt. I think that having Heather Watson there as a rival is going to help her, I sort of prefer Watson's game but Robson being more powerful may go further. I think that she can go top 32 for sure.

If she can break the top 50 and stay there for 6 months of next year, then by the end of the year she may be even looking at closing in on top 20 by end of the year or early the following year. If she does, she will be well on her way.

Many players have "potential", but can they realise that potential and turn it into results. I sincerely hope she can and does.

Where do people get the idea that her ranking next week will be mid-70s? By my reckoning she has gained 280 points as a R16 loser, and is losing nothing from last year, therefore her total will be 761 (her current total) + 281 = 1041.

At the moment that would be 57th/58th.

I realise that there will be shifts due to the gains and losses, but I don't expect the difference between what 1041 gets you now to be much different to what it gets you in a week's time.

In fact, I suspect that the remaining players in the US Open are all above that level so the maths for these players could be done now and give us an exact figure.

I must admit, I'm expecting her to be the British No.1 woman player on Monday. Perhaps someone is reading the points table wrongly - I believe the R16 = 280 id for those who lose in R16, as shown here:



She certainly looks to be on her way. Biggest concern is whether or not the susceptibility to injury is over - that has turned many a promising career into (enforced) mediocrity. Let's hope she stays healthy and lives up to her potential.

She has shown in the US Open that she could be a top player and she could be there quite soon. Getting to the seeded positions should give her plenty of chances for ranking points avoiding top seeds early on - from there on she has her chance to see where she can get.

@4: Looks like she's defending 160 points from last year, for qualifying and reaching the second round. Details can be searched here:

I'm surprised there isn't an "unofficial" up-to-the-minute rankings site where all the maths is done (or not one I can find at least).

That would be part of it, although that site seems a bit suspect - says she lost in R64 which should be 100 points not 160? But it's late so maybe it's me.

I'm also surprised there's not some site that does the maths.

As 5 said she got points for qualifying

is brilliant for ranking calculations

No 4+6. Qualifying of grandslams is 60 points + 100 for a second round = 160 point to defend, much as we would like her to have gone even higher up the rankings it means she will be mid 70's with others gains and losses.

There is an android app which calculates to the minute rankings called 'Tennis Temple' - according to it Laura is currently ranked 73rd..........Which makes her one place above H Watson and now the Brit No 1..........hope this helps...:-)

The site below has Laura ranked at 75. It claims to be updated every day.

I didn't plan to watch her game agaisnt Clijsters but flicked over to it. As a sport fan who jumps on the tennis bandwagon for each of the slams, I was initially thinking...'oh what's the point in watching this...I want Laura to win but will end up disappointed again.' And to be honest I don't suppose I was being unreasonable with that intital thought. However, I was chuffed to bits when she won, and it clearly wasn't a fluke. Fingers crossed she keeps getting better and better, it's been a while since a British woman has been able to dish out some beatings on the tennis court

"Greats of the game such as Chris Evert, Billie Jean King and Lindsay Davenport were all saying the same thing: here is a player with a big future in the game and the potential to be a future Grand Slam winner. They should know."


No Jonathan. It is called "courtesy". I am sure they usually say similar things about other players when asked.

Also if you tune into certain sports channels all you see is have-beens heaping praise on players managers and teams for a living for the sake of publicity.

And I don't think that because someone is/was good at playing a game his/her opinion on others has more value anyway.


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So it looks like she "might" get into the top 20. Woop de doo. Other than the relative success of this player compared to the shameful level of British tennis generally, WHO CARES if someone might get into the top 20?? Write us an article once shes in the top 20 and might actually WIN something!

#14
If you were top 20 in the world at something that a lot of people were trying to be good at, would you be proud of your achievements?

Top 20 players in the womens game can win things. Yes, it's a strange game in that the No.1 seed all too often loses by something like 6-1 6-0. I don't know why that is, presumably it's psychological.

And the tour other than the Slams is an opportunity for her to win lesser tournaments, get into seeded positions and then challenge for the slams.

It may be that she doesn't get above 20, but you have to get to 20 before you get to 1, so let's see - nothing wrong with hoping. And if she's top 20 in the next year then we will see if she can take the next step. This week she competed blow for blow with the top players - if she continues to do that then she can be top ten and challenging, even now.

Finally, yes I'm sure pundits are all polite about other players, but you also hear them saying that someone is not realising their potential. Or that they have (say) a big serve and "need to work on the rest of their game". And they also have their coded messages for "top 100 at best" - they're not saying that about LR.

Having someone with potential for the top of the game is a big thing for us Brits, let's enjoy it while we can rather than pour cold water on our own bonfire. Look at how few countries have anyone at all - I read the online comments in the Canadian papers that someone posted and they were absolutely over the moon about having Raonic to support as he develops. Most were over-hyping his potential and ignoring his weaknesses but they were having fun and they were probably right in saying that "if" he can develop a backhand and get better from the back of the court... and grows a third leg etc etc then he could be... whatever. But if you or I could do those things then we could also be great tennis players, the difference with LR is that she already has teh shots, her shortcomings are fitness/speed, shot selection and psychology - those are more easily added than a backhand or a back-court game!

She has the shots, she has weapons (which is essential for winning at the top level) and she has identified the areas for improvement and is actively working hard at improving them. And doing it well, if the last week or so is a guide.

Let's enjoy the journey.

#4 - cheer up, and take your trolling elsewhere!

Waiting for someone to say that she was born in Australia.

Hard hats on everyone!

I meant #14, not #4. Sorry!

It was no coincidence that Robson's best performance was when the spotlight was away from her in Palermo. To progress though my hope is LR is given time to develop her game, she still needs a proper 2nd serve and her movement is still amongst the poorest in the top 200.
With average movement for a top 100 player and a decent 2nd serve comparable with other players of similar height added to her great groundstrokes should see her in the top 16.

She's for sure the most talented of the next generation. When she's on she has that easy power (similar to Petra Kvitova) and the improvements in her court coverage are clear. At the moment she still has a lot of days where her timing is off and she's spraying shots.

It's worth noting that the youngest quarterfinalist in the US Open is Vika Azarenka at 23 years old. The game is too physical now for teenagers to streak straight to the top. Kvitova was pretty much unknown until she made the wimbledon semifinal aged 20. So Laura still has time on her side.

Krajan is a controversial figure. I hope it works out.

Laura can certainly perform on the big courts at the big tournaments. What she seems unable to do is perform at the smaller WTA tournament - when there's no attention, she doesn't seem to have the right attitude to do it.

I'll be interested to see how she does the rest of the year and next. But let's not build her up too much - I heard Sky talking about how tough her route to the final is!

And I'd say that Chris Evert saying how good she is - professional courtesy. Roger Federer always said, back in the day,Hewitt was his main rival for Australian Open, Roddick his main rival for US Open, now recently Murray at Wimbledon and how Henman was always a huge threat there. See a trend here??

We were in the stadium watching the Li Na match, and Laura looked to be a good ball striker, and also mentally tough ... we figured she would fall away after losing the second set, but instead she played better!
So very positive from that point of view. What was very notable though was her lack of mobility on the court ... in fact it became somewhat of a running joke for us during the weekend (i.e. slow as Laura) ... hopefully that can be significantly improved, otherwise it's going to be tough for her to get into the top 10.
Her interviews were great at the US open too btw ... she seems a lovely girl, so I hope she keeps improving.

Wow @13nibs, did you lose a tv contract to an ex-pro or something?

Robson seems to have grit and determination, which can't be taught, great power, technique and accuracy... but obviously not an 'athletic' player which could hold her back.

Good news is that you can still have weaknesses and win slams in the women's game right now.

Wimbeldon will be her best shot as well, so there's a bonus for the home fans!