Laura Robson drawn against in-form Victoria Azarenka at Madrid Masters
Tough test for the Briton
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Your support makes all the difference.Laura Robson currently knows better than most about the luck of the draw. Earlier this week the 22-year-old Briton was given the chance to claim her first tour victory for three years when she was paired with Ghita Benhadi, an 18-year-old wild card without a world ranking, in the first round of the Women’s Tennis Association tournament in Rabat.
Robson, who beat the Moroccan 6-1, 6-1, is now in Madrid, where she got into the main draw for next week’s tournament as an alternate by using her protected world ranking. Her reward, however, is a first-round meeting with the world No 5, Victoria Azarenka, who has won her last 14 matches, having claimed the titles in Indian Wells and Miami. It will be their first meeting.
Until her victory in Morocco this week Robson had won just three of her 10 matches this year, all of which had been in qualifying events. The former Wimbledon junior champion is trying to rebuild her career following wrist surgery. Currently ranked No 426 in the world, she can play in the major events only through wild cards or by using a protected ranking, which is given to players who have been out through injury for long periods. She is using her protected ranking to play in the French Open next month.
The road back is a tough one, though there have been one or two encouraging signs of late. Her victory over Klara Koukalova, the world No 117, in the first round of qualifying in Stuttgart last week was her best win since she beat the Czech in the first round of the China Open in Beijing three years ago. The latter victory had been her last in a main tour event until she beat Benhadi this week.
However, the victories over Koukalova and Benhadi were both followed by comprehensive defeats. In Stuttgart Robson lost 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of qualifying to France’s Oceane Dodin and in Rabat the Briton was beaten 6-1, 6-2 by Hungary’s Timea Babos in her next outing.
With little more three weeks to go to the start of the French Open all the players in Madrid will be keen to make a good showing on clay. Johanna Konta, the British No 1, has enjoyed an excellent start to the season but has yet to win a match on clay, having lost to Anna-Lena Friedsam in the opening round in Stuttgart last week in her first outing of the year on the surface.
Konta has a tricky first-round encounter in Madrid with France’s Caroline Garcia, the world No 51. The reward for the winner will be a meeting with either Agnieszka Radwanska, the world No 2, or Dominika Cibulkova, the 2014 Australian Open runner-up.
Heather Watson’s world ranking was not high enough to get her into the main draw. The world No 56 has been drawn against the Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka in the first round of qualifying. Britain’s Naomi Broady, the world No 80, meets Dodin in the first round of qualifying.
Radwanska is the top seed in Madrid due to the withdrawal of Serena Williams. “I’ve been battling the flu and I’m not at 100 per cent,” Williams said.
Williams has not won a title since August and has played in only three tournaments this year. She lost to Angelique Kerber in the final of the Australian Open, to Azarenka in the final in Indian Wells and to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round in Miami. The world No 1 is hoping to return to competition in Rome, which follows hot on the heels of the Madrid event.
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