Laura Robson was two points away from her first Grand Slam victory since 2013 before crashing out in a tough three-set encounter against Russian world number 108 Elena Vesnina.
The former British number 1 was playing in her 7th tournament since returning to the tour after a 16-month absence due to a left wrist injury. During today’s match, which lasted two hours and six minutes, Robson lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to Vesnina.
Starting the match Robson got off to a strong start as she fought off three break points before dismantling Vesnina’s serve to move 4-2 up, shortly claiming the first set.
Despite the positive first set by Robson, her Russian rival, responded swiftly at the start of the second set as she surged to a 3-0 lead. Since 2012, the US Open is the only Grand Slam which Vesnina hasn’t lost in the first round of. As the Russian regained some of her form during the second set, a rusty Robson failed to respond as the match went into a final set.
The last set was an antagonising experience for both Robson and her fans. The world number 727 broke twice to surge to a 4-0 lead but failed to maintain the advantage as Vesnina yet again worked her way back into the match to level proceedings at 4-4. There was an inevitability that Robson would crash out despite ending her losing-game streak by finally holding her serve to move 5-4, up. At the most crucial stage of the match Robson’s serve substantially faltered due to a lack of match play as well as succumbing to pressure from the Russian. This blip was fatal to Robson’s hopes as Vesnina broke to move 6-5, up, before serving her way into the second round of the tournament for the fourth consecutive year.
The biggest issue for Robson was her serve. The Brit’s first serve’s in accuracy declined in each set with first service percentages of 58%, 52% and then 42% in the final set. The was considerably lower than her Russian rival who average 70% in each set. In Addition Robson also produced 37 unforced errors (8 less than Vesnina) and 12 double faults.
In the second round Vesnina will play either 18th seed Andrea Petkovic or Caroline Garcia.
Following her loss, Robson will travel to Mexico to play in some low-level tournaments according to The Daily Mail’s tennis reporter, Mike Dickson.
