{"id":386261,"date":"2026-01-03T22:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/386261\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T22:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:43:11","slug":"since-i-retired-ive-said-yes-to-almost-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/386261\/","title":{"rendered":"Since I retired I\u2019ve said yes to almost everything"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever since the doctor informed Laura Robson in 2022 there was no route back in, the former British No1 has channelled all the frustrated energy spent on fruitless years of rehab into so many new projects that she may never sit still again. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is some deep psychology in there I should probably unpack at some point,\u201d she says with a laugh as she lists the various roles she now occupies. <\/p>\n

While the majority of the tennis circuit enjoyed the short break between seasons, Robson was in the office at the All England Club in her capacity as player relations director amid crucial negotiations between the players, the four grand-slam tournaments and the tours about how to restructure an \u201cunsustainable\u201d calendar. <\/p>\n

Next week she will resume punditry duties alongside Tim Henman on Sky Sports in the build-up to the Australian Open, before hosting coverage of the year\u2019s first major on TNT Sports. From there the 31-year-old heads straight to Italy to present the Winter Olympics on TNT, too, while preparations intensify for the WTA 500 event at Queen\u2019s in June, where she is the tournament director. <\/p>\n

\"Laura<\/p>\n

Robson\u2019s busy 2026 starts with the build-up to the Australian Open<\/p>\n

ROBERT PRANGE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Just for good measure, Robson has decided to run her first marathon in April. \u201cI was looking at my training programme and the day of the Aussie Open final I have to run a 23k in the morning,\u201d she says, laughing again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you told me when I was 21 that I would be retired for a few years already, I would\u2019ve been like, \u2018No, that\u2019s not possible.\u2019 It never struck me that it could be taken away so quickly, so I think that\u2019s why I\u2019ve had this mindset since I properly retired of just saying yes to as many things as possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cAny job I want to do to the best of my ability. I had that in tennis as well, but going through all the ups and downs of playing, rehabbing, you feel like you\u2019ve lost motivation because it\u2019s so much to deal with. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow I can go into a job and prepare as best as possible and execute and it feels nice [unlike] when you do all the rehab and spend eight months working with a physio, doing everything humanly possible with a fitness trainer, and it still doesn\u2019t go well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is hard to believe it has been nearly two decades since Robson became a Wimbledon junior champion, aged 14. A top-30 player in the world and a 2012 Olympic silver medallist alongside Andy Murray in mixed doubles while still a teenager, she had the powerful game to become Britain\u2019s female flagbearer for the next decade. <\/p>\n

\"Laura<\/p>\n

The left-hander won junior Wimbledon in 2008, but started struggling with injuries five years later<\/p>\n

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND<\/p>\n

But shortly after Wimbledon in 2013, when Murray claimed his first title and Robson reached the last 16, her body began to deteriorate. The fluidity of her forehand never recovered from two operations on her left wrist before three bouts of surgery failed to mend a persistent hip injury. <\/p>\n

Robson\u2019s last professional match was a $25,000 (about \u00a318,500) event in Sunderland in 2019, when she withdrew after losing the opening set 6-0 against her compatriot Harriet Dart, but she persevered for three more years, stubbornly refusing to surrender her career despite the grief it kept inflicting until she was eventually told she had no choice<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest thing to accept was I just couldn\u2019t play the way I used to and that it wasn\u2019t my fault,\u201d she says. \u201cYour body lets you down. You want to hit the shot that you\u2019ve hit a hundred times five years ago and it just doesn\u2019t work any more. <\/p>\n

\u201cI officially retired because of my hip after the third surgery, I knew there was no way I could ever play a rotational sport again, but before that I had so many procedures done to my wrist it just never felt quite the same.<\/p>\n

\"Laura<\/p>\n

Highlights from Robson\u2019s career include a silver medal alongside Murray at the 2012 Olympics<\/p>\n

ELSA\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last few years were such a mental battle that I just couldn\u2019t do it any more, but in a way it was almost easier that a doctor said, \u2018That\u2019s enough,\u2019 because otherwise you keep going on this cycle and you can\u2019t get off the hamster wheel. It made it easier to let go and start a new life.\u201d<\/p>\n

That many of Robson\u2019s former rivals from the juniors remain inside the world\u2019s top 100 ensures the question of \u201cwhat if\u201d still lingers. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s not healthy, but it\u2019s just human nature, isn\u2019t it? But I\u2019m far enough removed that I feel a lot healthier about it,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Therapy sessions during those injury lulls helped reach that sense of perspective too. \u201cI did them on and off for years and definitely needed it at certain points in time. It\u2019s only going to help you. I had so much that I felt was weighing on my shoulders. I just needed to get it all off my chest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robson first ventured into broadcasting during one of those many periods of convalescence, initially working for BBC Radio 5 Live during the grass-court season. It just so happened that Steve Rider, the former sports presenter, is the father of one of her best friends and has remained a constant sounding board. Gigi Salmon, who works with Robson on Sky Sports, has acted as a mentor, too, while she also sought advice from the likes of Laura Woods and Gabby Logan before she moved into television. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty easy to tell when someone\u2019s not being authentic to themselves, so I\u2019ve asked a lot of people for advice about how to get better but still come across naturally,\u201d Robson says. \u201cI really enjoy presenting tennis, it\u2019s kind of within my domain, but I want to be challenged and feel like I\u2019m not stuck in one sport for the rest of my career, so when I was asked if I wanted to do the Winter Olympics it was the easiest yes ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Robson, pictured with the Princess of Wales during Wimbledon in 2023, is player relations director at the All England Club and is also tournament director of the WTA event at Queen\u2019s<\/p>\n

JOHN WALTON\/PA WIRE<\/p>\n

Tennis pundits tend to be less opinionated than those in football and cricket, and Murray has shied away from such roles because the criticism used to grate with him or cause him to question his coaches. Robson is friends with many of the British players but operates by the rule that \u201cif I wouldn\u2019t say it to their face, I wouldn\u2019t say it on TV\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m never trying to be overly critical but if someone\u2019s played a bad match, you can\u2019t ignore that fact,\u201d she says. \u201cEqually, I remember when I was playing, initially I would take things people said quite hard but then you watch the match back or speak to them and realise they were right most of the time. In a way, the players that I\u2019m closer with are probably the ones that I can sound the most harsh about.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are some parallels between Robson\u2019s and Emma Raducanu\u2019s rises, not least the attention and injuries that have hindered the latter since winning the US Open in 2021. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine the sort of pressure she has felt and it almost increases if she drops in level because everyone is like, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 Before any big tournament, we\u2019ll do a run of interviews for Sky or TNT or whoever and Emma is always the No1 subject that comes up,\u201d Robson says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think where she\u2019s at at the moment is very good considering where she started in 2025. She\u2019s back in the top 30 and seeded for a grand-slam again. Most people would jump at the chance for a season like that and yet there\u2019s still this feeling among some of the press that it\u2019s not enough. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, if you compare her to [Aryna] Sabalenka, who\u2019s winning every other week, of course, but that\u2019s not to say she won\u2019t eventually get there. It\u2019s just going to require time and multiple seasons playing at this level. It\u2019s still building blocks, but I\u2019m just happy that she\u2019s in the mix. It\u2019s great when she does well. There\u2019s almost no one that moves the dial like she does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cIt never struck me that [my playing career] could be taken away so quickly, so I think that\u2019s why I\u2019ve had this mindset since I retired of just saying yes to as many things as possible,\u201d the 31-year-old says<\/p>\n

Robson regrets persevering through pain during that 2013 season and so Raducanu\u2019s decision to take nearly a year off to recover properly after undergoing surgery on both her wrists in 2023 seems astute. But an increasing number of players are succumbing to injury and burnout owing to the relentless nature of the tennis schedule<\/a> \u2014 top WTA players must play in ten 1000-level tournaments (seven of which now last 12 days) and six 500-level events, along with the grand-slam events, or else risk fines and world ranking points deductions \u2014 with Carlos Alacaraz and Iga Swiatek among those who have regularly complained. The four slams have driven proposals to restructure the sport\u2019s calendar, with Robson party to those boardroom discussions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels like such a pivotal time and there is a lot going on behind the scenes and part of my role [at Wimbledon] is to keep the lines of communication open [with the players],\u201d Robson says. \u201cI have the mindset of a former player, but equally I can understand from the tournament perspective because of the hard work we put in to make Queen\u2019s even happen in the first place [last summer\u2019s tournament was the first WTA 500-level event at the venue in more than 50 years], so I sit on both fences a little bit, but I think most players don\u2019t feel [the schedule] is sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before she was made tournament director at Queen\u2019s, Robson cut her teeth running a distinctly less glamorous ITF 25k event in Loughborough. <\/p>\n

\u201cOut of all the things I\u2019ve done, that was definitely the hardest week,\u201d she says, with her tasks there even extending to chauffeuring the players from their hotels to matches. After graduating to directing the Nottingham Open in 2023, Robson managed everything from Murray\u2019s late wildcard entry that meant ripping up match schedules at the 11th hour and enhancing security protocols to delivering Cameron Norrie\u2019s and Heather Watson\u2019s forgotten laundry and constantly refilling the sweet bowl in the players\u2019 lounge. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery morning I had to pop into Tesco Extra, you wouldn\u2019t believe how fast they go,\u201d she says. But a larger team at Queen\u2019s means Robson\u2019s main focus can be on luring marquee players to the event. \u201cWe had a sponsor last year that gave us sweets.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is an invariably hectic schedule of her own \u2014 with what little downtime there was now consumed by her ambition to break 3hr 30min in the marathon \u2014 but, after Robson\u2019s life revolved so singularly around her playing career, there is a comfort in not having all of her eggs in one basket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in this happy medium now where I can do a bit of everything and all of the things that I enjoy,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s just really fulfilling.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ever since the doctor informed Laura Robson in 2022 there was no route back in, the former British…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-386261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}