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Page last updated at 01:48 GMT, Friday, 15 January 2010

Laura Robson suffers Australian Open qualifying defeat

AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 18-31 January
Coverage: Every Andy Murray match live on BBC 1 or 2
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Laura Robson
Robson fought for more than two hours against Krajicek

Britain's Laura Robson produced a battling performance in the second round of Australian Open qualifying before losing to Michaella Krajicek.

Robson, 15, lost 6-4 7-6 (9-7) and will now compete in the junior event, while fellow Briton Naomi Cavaday was beaten 6-0 6-1 by Belgian Yanina Wickmayer.

In the men's draw, Dan Evans lost 6-1 6-2 to Santiago Ventura, bringing an end to Britain's qualifying hopefuls.

Republic of Ireland's Louk Sorensen beat Daniel King-Turner to qualify.

Sorensen, ranked 287 in the world, was rewarded for reaching his first grand slam after his 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory with an opening clash against world number 101 Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese-Taipei.

Robson, wildcard entry for qualifying and world number 406, faced a tough task against a player who had been in the top 30 as recently as February 2008.

But the rising star, who turns 16 next week, beat a top-30 player in Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the Hopman Cup last week, raising hopes of a first grand slam qualification.

Robson was handed a wildcard entry into Wimbledon last year, when she took Daniela Hantuchova to three sets in the first round, before failing to qualify for the US Open at the last hurdle.

Elsewhere, Britain's Ross Hutchins and Australia's Jordan Kerr reached the doubles final at the Sydney International.

The duo defeated Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley 7-5 6-3 and will now play Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in Saturday's final.

"It's very important to do well at tournaments like this one but the Australian Open is always at the back of your mind," he said.



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see also
GB trio win openers in qualifying
13 Jan 10 |  Tennis
GB players look to impress Lloyd
12 Jan 10 |  Tennis
Early exits for Baltacha and Ward
05 Jan 10 |  Tennis


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