Laura Robson was tipped for greatness when she was crowned junior Wimbledon champion at the age of 14.
She defied the odds at SW19 in 2008, triumphing in the Girl’s Singles despite being the youngest player in the draw.
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Four years later, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year after advancing to the fourth round of the US Open.
She beat multiple Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters and Li Na along the way, while also claiming an Olympic silver medal at the London 2012 Games aged just 18.
Robson and mixed doubles partner Andy Murray progressed to the final, where the British pair fell short against Belarusian duo Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi.
The following year, Robson reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, but the Australian-born star then began to be crippled by injuries.
After requiring wrist surgery, the former British No.1 was also forced to undergo three hip operations.
Her regular setbacks limited her from reaching her full potential, with Robson failing to reach the second week of a Grand Slam singles event after Wimbledon 2013.
And after missing the entire 2020 and 2021 season through injury, Robson announced his immediate retirement from tennis at the age of 28 last year.
However, she has remained firmly involved in the sport, where she is a regular pundit for Eurosport, while she was also tournament director at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham last month – which Murray won.
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And she has also got a job at Wimbledon, where she is on the international player relations team.
Her role has seen her rub shoulders with Kate Middleton, with Robson seen sitting with the Princess of Wales at the All England Club.
The role has one main focus – keeping the players happy at Wimbledon.
But despite the pressures of working in tennis administration, Robson has told talkSPORT she is loving her new career.
Discussing his role as tournament director on the Hawksbee and Jacobs show, Robson noted: “I went to the Nottingham tournament a couple of weeks ago, it went really well – because Andy Murray and [British women’s star] Katie Boulter won it!
“I almost had a British result when they won the men’s doubles, could have won the women’s doubles and it was a great week, we had a sell-out crowd.
“I think the appetite for tennis in the UK has been higher than ever in the last few weeks, but I’m back at Wimbledon now and already planning my next holiday as I’m exhausted!”
She added of her role: “I think there are different ways to be a tournament manager, but I really wanted to be involved in the behind-the-scenes aspect of it.
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“For me, I wanted to learn from the people who have put on the events over the last few years, so we started back in January putting everything together.
“And we kind of check in pretty regularly to see what we needed to update and what could be better for the players.
“But the week off [the tournament]you just try to make the experience out on the field the best you can.
“And I’m also on the player relations team here at Wimbledon, which is very similar in many ways because we take all the feedback we get during the event and see if hopefully we can see some improvements for next year already.
“But it’s a year-long thing that you basically just have to keep thinking about, it’s been very, very cool.”
And Robson was also asked for her thoughts on the similarities between her career and that of Emma Raducanus, with the 20-year-old plagued by injuries since winning the 2021 US Open.
To that, she said: “Emma has been really unlucky over the last year just not being able to play consistent tennis, which anyone at the top of their game knows is the most important thing.
“You can’t believe in yourself in tight situations in matches or go out there and play your best tennis if you haven’t played week in week out.
“And you’ve seen that with the people still in the draw, they’ve been playing consistently for months now.
“Emma’s not the only one, but hopefully she’ll be back better than ever in a few months.”
Robson was back on the tennis court earlier this week, lining up with Daniela Hantuchova to compete in the women’s invitational doubles at Wimbledon – a tournament for retired players.
But the pair lost to Caroline Wozniacki and Cara Black in three sets.