Following three hip surgery, Laura Robson, the former British number one, has declared her retirement from tennis.
The 28-year-old was thrown into the spotlight when she won the girls’ title at Wimbledon when she was 14 years old, and she reached the top 30 while still a teenager, but she has been plagued by injury for the majority of the last decade.
Speaking to BBC Sport, she said: “I went through every possibility of rehab and of surgery.
“I had another hip surgery and probably did the best rehab block of my life – I went to all the best specialists and had some incredible people that I was working with just to get me back on court – and then the second time I hit, I just knew.
“It feels weird to say out loud, but I’m done, I’m retired. I’ve sort of known that for a while because of what I was told by the doctors last year, but I think it just took me so long to say it to myself, which is why it took me so long to say it officially.”
Robson climbed fast through the senior ranks, reaching the fourth round of the US Open in 2012 and won an Olympic silver medal in mixed doubles with Andy Murray, because to her natural ball-striking skill and big-match attitude.
She reached the final 16 at Wimbledon the following season, and her highest ranking was 27.
However, later in 2013, she had a wrist injury that kept her out for the following two years. She returned in 2016, but was unable to reclaim the form she had shown as a teenager, and was unable to reclaim a spot in the top 100.
Her hip problems surfaced in 2018, prompting surgery. She returned briefly the following year, with her final match coming in April 2019 in Sunderland.
Robson underwent surgery for the third time later that year, and she has finally conceded defeat in her quest to maintain her tennis career.
“I think overall I’m a much nicer person from going through all of that,” said the 28-year-old, who has carved out a new career in TV and radio. “If I keep looking back and thinking ‘what if’, then I can’t move forward.
“I think I’m always going to have the feeling that I could have done more, unfortunately. I feel like if I had just had another year or two of being healthy, I don’t know what I could have achieved.
“But I’m really proud of the Olympics, of playing Fed Cup – playing for your country in any way was always one of my favourite weeks of the year – and I think playing Wimbledon and the US Open the time that I did well, I will have those memories forever.”
