Laura Robson retires: Former junior Wimbledon champion and Olympic silver medalist ends career

Laura Robson – who won junior Wimbledon at 14 and an Olympic silver medal at 18 – has announced her retirement from tennis after undergoing three hip surgeries.

Robson underwent her first hip surgery in July 2018 and returned to the court in the spring of 2019. However, she still struggled with pain so went under the knife again in December.

Robson resumed training in December last year, but was forced to return to the operating table for a third time in January 2022. As a result, she has decided to call it time on her career. 

Speaking to BBC Sport about her decision to retire from the sport, Robson 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.’

She went on to add:  ‘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.’

Robson became a teenage sensation after winning the junior Wimbledon girls’ title at just 14 years old. She then went on to pick up a silver medal in mixed doubles alongside Andy Murray at the London Olympics in 2012.

Robson was also named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2012 after beating Grand Slam champions Kim Clijsters and Li Na in the US Open.

Following that, Robson secured a place in the fourth round at the All England Club in 2013 before achieving a career-high No 27 ranking later that summer. 

However, the rest of Robson’s career was plagued by injury. She first went under the knife in 2014 to fix an issue with her wrist. 

Following that, Robson sustained a hip issue that forced her to go back to the operating table in 2018. She returned to the court in the spring of 2019 and unknowingly played the final game of career against Harriet Dart at the ITF event in Sunderland. 

Robson went back to theatre shortly after she retired from her match with Dart and ultimately decided to call it time on her career after undergoing her third hip surgery.  

Despite retiring due to injury, Robson says she does not feel cheated out of her career and that the experience has made her a ‘nicer person’. 

The 28-year-old said: ‘That took a long, long time because it’s the difficulty of having it taken away from you rather than deciding yourself, as I would absolutely love to be out there still,’ she says.

‘But ultimately what’s happened has happened, and I think overall I’m a much nicer person from going through all of that. If I keep looking back and thinking ‘what if’, then I can’t move forward.’

Robson took to social media to post a photo of herself playing tennis as a young girl after she announced her retirement. She captioned the photo: ‘Thank you for mmrs’. 

Her fans were quick to respond. One wrote: ‘Still so young, devastated for you, good luck in the future Laura’. Another added: ‘Thank you for the joy and smiles and allowing us to be a part of your journey. Rest, relax, but stay on our TVs!’. 

One Instagram user wrote: ‘Good luck with the next chapter. Pity about your retirement from the sport but health first’. 

Robson will mostly likely focus on presenting after joining the BBC commentary team for Wimbledon while she recovered from her surgery. Robson also gained experience by featuring in the BT Sport production team for the Fed Cup World Group 2 play-offs. 

Robson has also become a Vodafone brand ambassador after the mobile phone company signed a multimillion pound deal to become the official connectivity partner of Wimbledon.

Robson’s decision to retire comes after former British No 1 Johanna Konta announced her shock retirement from professional tennis at the age of 30 in December 2021.

In a statement on Twitter titled ‘Grateful’, the 2017 Wimbledon semi-finalist described how she managed to ‘live her dreams’ and counted herself to be ‘incredibly fortunate’.  

Konta penned an emotional statement on social media, saying: ‘Grateful. This is the word that I’ve probably used the most during my career, and is the word that I feel explains it best at the end. 

‘My playing career has come to an end, and I am so incredibly grateful for the career that it turned out to be. 

‘All the evidence pointed towards me not ‘making’ it in this profession. However my luck materialised in the people that came into my life and impacted my existence in ways that transcended tennis. 

‘I am so incredibly grateful for these people. You know who you are. 

‘Through my own resilience and through the guidance of others, I got to live my dreams. I got to become what I wanted and said as a child. How incredible fortunate I count myself to be. How grateful I am.’ 

Konta reached the last four at Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the French Open while also reaching the quarters at the US Open. 

Her biggest title came at the Miami Open in 2017, while she also reached the quarter-finals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. 

Konta finished her career with four career titles, the last of which came at the Nottingham Open in June.