Laura Robson told to keep cool as she draws Daniela Hantuchova

James Olley
19 Jun 2009

Laura Robson has been handed a tough assignment on her Wimbledon senior debut after she was drawn against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the first round.

The 15-year-old, who lost her only previous senior match in three sets last year, became the youngest player in the draw since Martina Hingis made her debut in 1995.

Although she managed to avoid meeting a seeded player, world No33 Hantuchova is a former
quarter-finalist at SW19 and the
26-year-old has been as high as No5 in the rankings.

However, hope can be found in the fact Hantuchova has failed to get past the fourth round in the last six years at Wimbledon and suffered a comprehensive defeat in the French Open first round recently.

She finalised her preparations for Wimbledon at the Ordina Open in Germany, where Russia's Dinara Safina won their quarter-final showdown in three sets.

World No484 Robson was granted entry into the main draw after the All England Club invoked a ruling that allows players outside the top 250 to be granted a wildcard in special circumstances.

Robson won the junior singles title at SW19 last year and Maria Sharapova has urged the Briton not to expect too much from her first outing in the senior event and use it to gain valuable experience for the future — which is sure to be bright for the youngster.

Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon title as 17-year-old in 2004, said: “You are always going to have to face the challenge and have to have that starting point where you go on to Centre Court and play in front of a big crowd not just at the junior stage but at the professional level.

“I think her junior results have shown a great amount of potential but obviously the professionals are in a different level at the moment.

“She is only 15 years old and I am sure she has many more years ahead of her. The most important thing is just to take it all in and to enjoy the experience and get as much as you can out of it.”
Elsewhere in the draw, British wildcard Georgie Stoop also has a tough task when she faces No7 seed Vera Zvonareva, of Russia.

Melanie South plays France's Mathilde Johansson, Katie O'Brien meets Iveta Benesova, of the Czech Republic, and world No49 and British No1 Anne Keothavong takes on Patricia Mayr, of Austria.