Melbourne Continues to Hunt Robson

Former British No 1 Laura Robson has failed to qualify for the Australian Open, which gets underway in Melbourne next week.

The Melbourne-born 22-year-old, a former world top-30 player, lost in straight sets to Amandine Hesse of France in the first round of qualifying on Thursday.

Robson, now ranked a lowly 222, was defeated 6-2 6-4 in just 75 minutes after losing eight of the opening 10 games.

Although she battled back to draw level at 4-4 in the second set – after securing her only break – she was promptly broken again in game nine.

Robson then held two break points herself in the 10th game, only for Hesse to clinch victory on her second match point.

Robson said: “I didn’t really feel nervous. I just felt flat. I just never got going, it felt like my feet were stuck in mud.

“I was trying to pump myself up, moving around a lot between points, trying to get something going, it never happened.

“When it got a little bit closer in the second I was waiting for some momentum switch. It was annoying not to play the way I wanted to, especially frustrating because I got here a good few days ago and was playing really well in practice. “I played a lot of practice sets and felt really confident, then I set foot on court and it felt the opposite.”

Robson, a former junior champion at Wimbledon, has not won a match on the main WTA Tour since April of last year, as she continues to struggle following a serious wrist injury.

Robson will now return to Europe to contest two ITF tournaments in France before February’s Fed Cup tie against Estonia.

Also leaving Melbourne is fellow Brit Tara Moore who lost nine of the last 10 games in her 6-7 6-3 6-1 defeat by Hungary’s Dalma Galfi.