porous mindless: Laura Robson class act in Israel during Fed Cup

Today, 12:21 AM

? #1

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Join Date: Mar 2002

Location: Barcelona

Posts: 41,047

Laura Robson class act in Israel during Fed Cup

As published in John Wertheim's mailbag:

Random player story -- well, maybe not so random, but still worth sharing. I was working in the press office at the Fed Cup zonal tie in Eilat, Israel, in February 2011. On the very last day, on a back court with about 20 people watching, Elena Baltacha was playing an Austrian girl. By beating her, team GB would qualify to the WGII playoffs for the first time in forever. Laura Robson was sitting on the sidelines and cheering on her teammates. A young girl, maybe 12 years old, asked her whether after the match they could hit a few balls together. Laura smiled politely and replied: "Let's see after the match if I have time." I thought it was a nice way of saying thanks, but no thanks.

When Baltacha went on to win the match, the whole team, including team captain Judy Murray, leapt onto the court in jubilation. The same young girl went onto the court and asked Laura if they could hit a couple of balls. With no hesitation, when all her team was hugging, celebrating and talking to the press, Laura moved to the next court to play with this young girl. She then proceeded to round up all the other kids who wanted to play too, gave them all her own rackets and played with the kids for about 30 minutes, encouraging them and giving them tips.

Again, back court, huge win for GB, cold night in Eilat, no press watching her, no reason to care. I've been around all the Grand Slams, seen many players, but never someone so kind, gracious and generous as what I saw from Laura Robson. Class act! Consider me a fan.
-- Sophie, Tel Aviv

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...bag/index.html

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Last edited by spiceboy : Today at 12:31 AM.

Today, 01:38 AM

? #10

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Join Date: Sep 2001

Location: sddfs

Posts: 1,234

Re: Laura Robson class act in Israel during Fed Cup

And this as well:

You should have known this sooner. Of course Robson is a complete delight. Back in January, I remember her playing at the Australian Open with a rainbow ribbon around her hair. When questioned by a reporter if she was protesting Margaret Court and her views, Miss Robson replied that she was not trying to make any political statements, but did believe in equal rights for all. I thought that was very clever. No mention of Court. No talk of the gay community. And yet she had said all that was needed to be said.
-- Charith, Bangalore, India

? You're absolutely right. Most of the top players avoided the issue. Here comes a teenager with a triple-digit ranking who made the most eloquent "soft power" protest.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ten...obson-mailbag/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012...ts-controversy

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