Girls' champion Laura Robson is all over Sunday's newspapers

Britain's last Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade has warned the media not to ruin the career of Laura Robson.

Briton Robson, 14, won the girls' title on Saturday and has been on the front and back pages of Sunday's newspapers.

But 1977 women's champion Wade told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek: "It drives me crazy to see all the attention, they are so desperate to find a new star.

"The expectation is so premature, but Laura has made a fantastic start and she has got so much potential."

Robson is the first Briton to win the girls' title at Wimbledon since Annabel Croft won it at the age of 18 in 1984, but she retired from tennis just three years later.

Jamie Delgado was a world junior number one before he turned professional in 1998, with the Birmingham-born right-hander proclaimed as the bright new hope of British tennis.

But his career never took off and he never got beyond the second round of Wimbledon, reaching a high of number 121 in the world.

To win a Wimbledon title at 14 is pretty remarkable and we need to protect her LTA women's chief Carl Maes

"The media want to latch on to someone who shows great promise but this whole thing is what upsets the applecart with the British players," she said.

"She's only 14 and has won junior Wimbledon but I can see people thinking that if she gets into the main draw next year she's going to win it!

"The key for her is to get priorities right. Remember to do what you should be doing to improve, to play good matches and then you try to keep a buffer between yourself and the media.

"It can get quite sensitive - you'll get criticism and you can feel they're against you when it might not be so.

"I'd like there to be a filter between her and the media. You have to find a way of it not affecting you emotionally directly."

606: DEBATE If the LTA takes care of her, we could see Laura at the top of the women's game in years to come kuzfan

"I'm really proud of her for what she did on Saturday and I do think she's got what it takes," said Wade.

"She's got a very instinctive natural game, she moves well, she serves well and above all her concentration and her head seem to be excellent.

"You don't know whether a great player is going to pop up at the same time, but it'd be nice for us if we had someone in contention some of the time.

"Her start is great and all things being equal, I don't see why she isn't going to go all the way."

Carl Maes, head of women's tennis at the LTA, says the coverage of Robson has been "scary".

"This media expectation is going to be pretty daunting and her entourage I think are going to protect her," Maes told Sportweek.

"On Sunday, for example, I don't think she will be doing any of the media and we might not hear from Laura for a couple of months now so she doesn't get sidetracked.

"We do need to manage the expectations and although we are desperate for a new star and this player is exceptional, there are no guarantees that is two years' time she will still be exceptional.

"But to win a Wimbledon title at 14 is pretty remarkable."