Teenage Robson lands another upset at U.S. Open

Associated Press

NEW YORK

British teen Laura Robson faces a former Grand Slam champion in her next match at the U.S. Open, which shouldn’t feel the least bit intimidating.

Not after she beat four-time major winner Kim Clijsters and 2011 French Open champ Li Na in three days. Next up is Samantha Stosur, the defending champion at Flushing Meadows.

The 18-year-old Robson knocked out Li 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 on Friday. Ranked 89th, Robson never had been past the second round of a major tournament or defeated a top-10 opponent before this year’s U.S. Open. Now she’s done both after eliminating the ninth-seeded Li.

“I have had lots of tough matches against some very experienced opponents, so the way that I see it, it was time to start winning a few of them,” she said.

She showed poise after failing to close out the match in the second-set tiebreaker, then overcoming two incorrect calls in the third set where she had to replay points she would’ve won if the initial ruling had been right.

With a break point on Li’s serve at 2-2 in the final set, Robson’s return clipped the baseline and Li hit the ball wide. But the line judge called Robson’s shot out and, after a review overturned it, Robson lost the replayed point. Li won the next point as well to earn game point. But with the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd roaring its support, Robson rallied back to get the break.