LAURA ROBSON joked pundits just want quick straight-set wins when tennis matches go into the early hours – because the TV life is not all glitz and glam.
Robson, 32, returns to duties with Sky Sports Tennis this week in the second leg of the Sunshine Double at the Miami Open.
She opted to sit out of Indian Wells off the back of a manic start to the year covering the Australian Open and then swapping Melbourne for the mountains by reporting from the Winter Olympics in Italy.
But with the popularity of night sessions – Wimbledon is now the only Grand Slam without one – and matches generally getting longer – not helped by infuriating “dead time” – broadcasters are often having to cover and analyse matches way beyond midnight.
Robson told SunSport: “A lot of people think it’s all glamour but TV hours are very, very long, especially at tennis tournaments when there’s a day session and a night session.
“The length of the day adds up when you’re chipping away for the 14th hour of the day.
“Honestly, you’re there until 1.30, 2am in the morning on a regular basis because you don’t know how long a tennis match will last.
“It’s fun for the most part but after midnight, whoever’s won the first set is who we want to win.
“I feel like there’s still so much dead time in tennis. I would get rid of the shot clock.”
Robson was Junior Wimbledon champion aged just 14 in 2008 then teamed up with Andy Murray to win an Olympic silver medal in the London 2012 mixed doubles, still only a teenager.
BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK
The lefty reached a high of No27 in the world rankings a year later but saw her playing career derailed by various long-term injuries – requiring two wrist surgeries and three hip operations.
When doctors told her a comeback was off the cards, she retired in 2022 – three years after her last professional match – and is now a regular on TV screens for the biggest tournaments.
Robson combines her punditry work for Sky Sports with more of a presenting role on TNT Sports’ tennis coverage – and even got the Winter Olympics gig after making a conscious effort to gain as much experience as possible.
She has turned to advice from Sky colleague and mentor Gigi Salmon, as well as the likes of Laura Woods and Gabby Logan.
Robson explained: “I feel like people sometimes think it happens overnight for someone who’s just stopped playing, but the reality is there’s been a lot of different variables and I’ve worked really hard on it.
“It’s just taken me time to feel like I can still have my own personality and be authentic as well, but still very professional.
“I’ve always had the thought process that there’s going to be someone more relevant for punditry, who’s just retired, who’s been more recent, who’s had a higher ranking than me.
“So I wanted to broaden my opportunities a bit more.
“I’ve been quite ambitious in asking for different roles and opportunities – sometimes they get given to you.
“I have scope to do a couple of different roles rather than just being pigeonholed into tennis punditry.”
The Australia-Italy double header meant Robson spent just one night in her own bed in two months from December 20 to late February.
It is a long stretch for anyone to be on the road – let alone someone who craves time with her dog and is also training for April’s London Marathon, raising money for children’s sport charity Give It Your Max.
Robson – who also juggles being player relations director at Wimbledon and tournament director of the women’s event at Queen’s – added: “I would say I prefer being at home. I really love my job. I’m so lucky to get to do something where I can travel and follow something I love in lovely places.
“But when you retire, you enjoy the home comforts a little bit more and enjoy quality time with the dog, play padel three or four times a week.
“Not so much at the moment, though, because there is marathon training going on.
“Somehow I’ve managed to keep up with the training across multiple different climates, countries and time zones.
“But when I’m actually home, I don’t want to do it. I just want to sit in the house
It’s so long.
“I think my worst personality trait is I’m too competitive to just roll through it. Especially now that I’ve been training, I want a certain time.
“My plan thinks I’ve got a sub-3.30 in me, which I’m not sure that that’s on the cards.”
- Sky Sports is the year-round home of tennis. Watch the biggest stars on the ATP and WTA Tours at the Miami Open live, exclusively on Sky Sports and NOW.
