The English Spirit

A standing ovation after a loss at Wimbledon for one of Britain's most talented female tennis players and that is seen as wrong by some people. Why? Simply because they don't embrace the British spirit that British fans possess.

Laura Robson lost yesterday to one of the most talented players in ladies tennis, Maria Sharapova, 7-6 6-3, straight sets. But being world no 254 who gave her a chance at all? So when she went 4-1 up in the first set fans were going wild around Wimbledon in the belief they may witness one of the biggest shocks in the history of Wimbledon. However she wasn't able to hold on and the experience of Maria Sharapova shone through and battled back to win a tie-break in the first set and then win the second set to progress.

So why after her loss have some pundits started questioning Laura Robson's ability and potential in the future? Comparisons were easily made with Maria Sharapova as she was 17 when she won Wimbledon but as you see with other great players in tennis, some people come into the sport amazing and take the tour by storm, and some progress year by year - namely the best player in tennis history, Roger Federer. Some may say being 22 winning your first grand slam is considered quite young, but if you look at him now you would have thought he would have always been that good, but he worked hard over the years to get to where he is now.

So the fact some critics have criticised the reaction of fans when Laura Robson lost to Maria Sharapova was somewhat shocking almost. Britain doesn't have a lot of high quality players in tennis so when Laura Robson won the junior championships at 14 a lot of weight was put on her shoulders, but a main reason why she won that junior championship was because of her strength that other juniors couldn't cope with. In 3 years she has definitely improved as you would expect, but clearly not the player YET to be challenging with the top 10, but as with Andy Murray she could become a late bloomer. Andy Murray suffered from fitness problems and lasting the full 5 sets, but he went away and worked on it and came back stronger to become a force to be reckoned with, Laura Robson will just need to show that same commitment, but as everyone can keep pointing out she is only 17. The Williams sisters are near on 30 and are on the top of the women's game still so one will look and say she has 13 years ahead of her to be making a name for herself in the game.

But as for the British fans, we are more than happy to see a talent that we believe in do well and cheer her on than down-hearten her spirits at such a young age by saying negative things about her game. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" may be something Laura Robson will or even has come to terms with and critics are part and parcel of any ones game but in Britain it seems more likely. The English football team, Andy Murray, English golfers, the English cricket team... the list is endless of teams/players in England that get slated after just one or two losses and not being world-beaters. Boos and bad press are never going to inspire a player/team to succeed in the sport because in theory they are entertainers for their fans and if they see people not enjoying them then why would they want to try and reverse that? They're all still human and are all extremely talented at their respective sport and all deserve to be where they are.

So that's why i chose to write this blog, to applaud the fans who gave Laura Robson a standing ovation, to be able to pick up their countryman after a hard-hitting loss and saluting her efforts. It was that gesture that typifies the British spirit and I for one am proud that I live in a country where we can be well-pleased with a British athletes efforts and look forward to cheering on much more losses in the future.

Game, Set and Match Miss Laura Robson

Born in our sporting rival country Australia. But nurtured into a tennis talent in Great Britain.

Laura Robson shot to fame with her Junior Championships title at the tender age of just 14. Three years on since her triumph at Wimbledon she is back and on the professional tour and her first round match was against a former top 100 in Angelique Kerber on which she showed great determination and skill to come up trumps 4-6 7-6 6-3 and now looks forward to a mouth-watering round two match against Maria Sharapova, anyone else backing the Brit for an upset?

Her poise and power shown in the first round match was astonishing in which she was able to conjure up numerous baseline winners against her opponent leaving her defenceless at times. A part of her game however that seemed to be exploited her opponent was simply her lack of experience in some loss in concentration but with time on her side that will no doubt come along nicely into her game.

In the three years since her triumph at Wimbledon she has climbed an astonishing 305 places to 254th in the world and will clearly be following this climb down the rankings with time on her side. A first massive test for Laura Robson comes in the shape of Maria Sharapova, a former world number 1, and although she may be feeling slight nerves about that prospect she is surely looking forward to the feeling if she is able to cause a huge upset.

Laura Robson is flying the Great British flag for the women that aspire to make it as a tennis professional and at the age of just 17 she is setting a fine example to any young girl, or boy even, to make the progress she has shown in her short career so far. What's next to come for the young Briton? A long and illustrious career I am sure.

Mcilroys Masterclass

We feel like we have been here before this year. Mcilroy taking a golf major by storm and taking a great lead into the final round, but what we hope won't continue the similar trend is the final round performance of Rory Mcilroy.

One can't help but worry and compare to his heartbreaking last round 80 at the masters earlier on in the year, but that fall at the final hurdle has seemed to spur him on even more to concur the US Open with him breaking numerous records on his demolition of the Congressional course.

In the masters there was always this nerve about Mcilroy, never feeling confident at the top of the leader board even with a convincing four shot lead going into the final round, but this time round his game has looked flawless with only a few off-key shots proving that he is still human. But at the tender age of 22 and being the first person ever to reach 14 under par at the Congressional he has definitely learnt from every mistake he made at The Masters and looks set to claim his first major.

Since the return and demise of Tiger Woods there has not been one player to take the tour by storm with new players claiming the number 1 spot every other month, but with Rory Mcilroy young, hungry and showing great maturity we are starting to see the growth of maybe another great for golf in the making.

His ability to come back from such a soul-destroying last round flop at The Masters is something that not even the sturdiest broad shoulders could carry into the US Open, but he has managed to do it, and in some style taking an astonishing 8 shot lead into the final round. Everyone, especially the American fans are cheering him on and giving him the backing in not just the hope that he can win his first major, but hope that he can go on to win much more in what is sure to be an illustrious golfing career