Laura Robson

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Former junior champion Robson beaten in semi

www.wimbledon.com

Hopes of a British junior champion at Wimbledon were quashed as Laura Robson was beaten in the semi-finals of the girls' singles competition she had won in memorable style as a 14-year-old two years earlier.

Robson, seeded eighth this year, fell to Japan's 10th seed Sachie Ishizu 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) after a match in which she failed to capitalise on the chances that came her way.

Her defeat came after the top-ranked British boy Oliver Golding had fallen at the same stage in the boys' singles.

The 16-year-old local girl repeated the slow start of yesterday's all-British quarter-final against Tara Moore, losing her first service game to the Japanese 17-year-old, who returned with great power and precision.

The players matched each other from then on, before Robson broke back in the ninth game - her left-handed style causing problems for Ishizu as she returned a crosscourt winner for the game.

However Robson's serve faltered as her opponent kept a cool head to break back in the 10th game and survive two break points in the next. Robson's serve continued to break down in the 12th, handing the set to Ishizu with a double fault and a series of unforced errors.

The players swapped breaks at the start of the second set before Ishizu next broke to go 4-2 ahead. Robson immediately hit back, thanks partly to a spot of luck when a backhand clipped the net and dropped into Ishizu's half. After a love service game levelled, Robson finally found her form to break Ishizu, and looked like she could serve out the set and line up a probable comeback.

She had three set points but could not shake off Ishizu and the set eventually went to a tie-break, with the crucial point a beautiful dropped return from Ishizu which allowed her to serve out for the match.

Speaking at the press conference after the match, Robson admitted that her first serve has been below par: "I didn't feel like I played my best tennis," she said. "But, credit to her, she played well. She played extremely solid. That's tennis some days, you don't play as well as you want to and it doesn't work out the way you want it to."

Ishizu also felt that Robson's first serve helped her to victory: "From the first game her serve was quite stiff, so it was a bit easier to play against her," she said.

Ishizu will now play the Czech Kristyna Pliskova in the final. "I played against her before and lost the last time," Ishizu conceded. "So the final will be quite a challenge."