AEGON Classic: Robbo's racket does the talking

Quiet, please...

It’s the start of a new week for Laura Robson, no doubt happy to put some distance between herself and last week's controversy over a few throw-away comments she made with a journalist. Lesson learned, perhaps. Still, she returned to the spotlight in the best possible manner, booking a spot in the second round of the main draw of the AEGON Classic after coming through qualifying at the weekend with victory over Stefanie Voegele, who was forced to retire after losing the first set with a back injury..

As you might expect given the week she’s had, the 16-year-old kept her cards close to her chest in the post-match press conference. She was knee-deep in training last week, so there was no time to dwell on the now-infamous Vogue interview that led to a quiet word in her ear from the WTA. She hadn’t even realised that the Wimbledon wildcards are set to be announced today, and couldn’t quite remember who asked who before she ended up entering the mixed doubles draw with Jamie Murray.

Fortunately, her on-court focus was much sharper. The left-hander’s serve was in fine form during a tight opening set against Voegele, who did not let on if the injury was bothering her early on in the match, though she ended the first set with two double faults before calling for the trainer to work on her back. After a medical time-out, the Swiss returned to break Robson in the opening game of the second, which just added to the sense of confusion when she offered her hand at the change of ends.

Yanina Wickmayer awaits the Londoner in the second round in tomorrow’s second match, straight after Anne Keothavong’s first-rounder against Pauline Parmentier.

She’s a scream

It comes to something when a player’s decibel output is worthy of note in a tournament featuring Michelle Larcher de Brito and Maria Sharapova, but watch out Birmingham – there’s a new banshee in town.

Maybe scream isn’t the word, but one thing’s for sure – you know when Sandra Zahlavova is out on court. For a pocket rocket – her slight 5’6” frame puts her in Schiavone territory – the Czech 24-year-old roars with the best of them. Cross Maria Sharapova’s wail with Serena Williams’ growl and you’re in the ballpark.

Also worth watching out for is her pre-service routine. It begins in great style with a pep talk while she bounces with her back to the court, a quick-time 180 to the baseline, from where she manages to pull off a convincing impression of an archer taking aim from a windy high-wire. Between the audio-visual delights, she attracted quite a crowd – of both players and fans – to the Edgbaston Priory Club’s half-hidden court 4.

Unfortuntely all that shrieking and wobbling was in vain. Despite fighting back from a set down against US qualifier Alison Riske, Zahlavova went down 7-6 4-6 6-0.

Britwatch: Robson rocks on, South slips up twice

Robbo’s win apart, it wasn’t a great day for the Brits. Melanie South was first up on court against Anna Chakvetadze and had looked in great shape, racing away with the first set and finding herself 4-1 up in the second. But with the finish line in sight the Londoner tightened, allowing the similarly tight Russian to rattle off five straight games to level the match.

They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but it did out on Court 1 as another 4-1 lead for the Brit crumbled, giving the former world No.5 a berth in the second round after a 3-6 6-4 6-4 win.

Things were a little clearer cut elsewhere. Heather Watson found the going tough against another Russian, falling 6-4 6-3 to Alla Kudryavtseva after playing some promising tennis in spells. Katie O’Brien followed her out of the singles with a 6-3 6-4 defeat to Sesil Karantcheva, before Naomi Broady ended the day’s play with a 6-4 6-4 loss to American Shenay Perry.

So then there were three: Keothavong, Robson and Elena Baltacha, fresh from her AEGON Trophy victory in Nottingham on Sunday. She faces Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi on Court 1 on Tuesday.

Good day for: Mirjana Lucic. The Croatian qualifier claimed her first main draw victory since 2007 with a 6-1 6-2 win over Columbia’s Mariana Duque Marino. Not a bad day to be a Yank either: Mattek-Sands, Perry and Riske all through.

Bad day for: a t-shirt. Isn’t it June?

Tomorrow’s big match: Maria Sharapova vs Bethanie Mattek-Sands, third match on Centre Court. A gutsy win today over Alberta Brianti for Mattek-Sands, a last-minute addition to the draw, gives her the first pop at the two-time former champ tomorrow. Which MaSha will arrive in Edgbaston? We will know more tomorrow…