Laura Robson today became the first British junior in 24 years to reach the girls' singles final after knocking out Romana Tabakova of Slovakia. The 14-year-old held her nerve with a remarkable display of clean hitting and powerful serving to beat an opponent nearly three years her senior 6-2, 7-5 in one hour and 24 minutes.

It caps a stunning run in which she is yet to drop a set, having beaten the likes of the top-ranked Melanie Oudin and No9 seed Bojana Jovanovski on her way to the final, where she will face No3 seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn of Thailand.

Playing in front of a packed Court Three - one of the largest audiencees of her fledgling career - Robson made an incredibly assured start and it was Tabakova who displayed all the early nerves, falling 3-0 behind in next to no time.

That score became 5-2 as both players held serve, Robson frequently hitting over 100mph and displaying a fine twohanded cross court backhand to set up several cheap points.

When the Briton broke again to wrap up the first set, there was a danger that she was making it look too easy as to be properly appreciated by the watching crowd.

Things got tougher in the second, however, as it was Tabakova who gained an early break before calling for the trainer at 3-2. But Robson broke back in the next game and showed tremendous steel to hold serve as the set reached it's climax. Once again, it was Tabakova whose nerve relented and Robson has the chance to emulate Annabel Croft's victory in this event back in 1984.

Speaking after the contest, Robson said: "I am just trying to play as well as I can and it's paying off. It is just an overwhelming experience to get into the final - the crowd and the support are really, really good.

"I try not to think about it [the hype] too much but its nice in a way because it shows they think I am good so I will take it as a compliment.

"I think I will be quite nervous in the final but I am going to try and put that at the back of my head. I will play my own game but if the first set doesn't go well I will have to change it."

While she is certainly showing all the signs of being able to fit in on the senior circuit when the time comes, Robson is determined make a quiet impact on the women's game.

She added: "I don't grunt and I don't think I ever will because people sometimesdo it on purpose and I didn't really want to get into that."

Her potential is sizeable and the deficiences in her game - notably she only hit one volley in the match and it was a shocker - are minimal. What is more important now is that she develops physically and the rest should follow.

As she makes that transition, it appears she won't be carrying the flag for the next generation alone as one of the most promising juniors in the game has applied for a British passport.

Johanna Konta was born in Australia but now lives in London and showed her commitment to her adopted by country by asking to have GB next to her name at Wimbledon.

Sadly for the tenth seed, it was pointed out by officials that until her new British passport arrives, Konta has to have AUS after her name on the All England Club's scoreboards.

Her favourite surface is clay, which will set her apart from the rest of youngsters being looked after by the LTA under the watchful eye of the head of women's tennis Carl Maes - Kim Clijsters' former coach.

A right-hander, Konta started playing tennis at the age of seven and idolises Roger Federer and Steffi Graf.

She first started training at Sutton, then moved to Bisham Abbey and from there on to the new National Tennis Centre at Roehampton.

Her arrival could allow the women's game to replicate the Tim Henman/Greg Rusedski era when homegrown Henman was joined in the world's top 10 by Rusedski, a product of the Canadian tennis system who opted to cross the Atlantic and represent Britain.