Laura Robson burst onto the tennis scene in spectacular fashion in 2008, stealing the headlines from Venus Williams when she became the youngest Wimbledon girls' champion since Martina Hingis.

Born in Australia, Robson moved to Wimbledon from Singapore aged six, just down the road from the All England Club, where she saw Martina Hingis play. Hingis invited her to train with her in Switzerland, prompting her drive to become a professional tennis player.

She became a national hero almost overnight when she won the Wimbledon girls' title, beating third seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn unseeded. She invited hero Marat Safin to be her guest at the champions' dinner, but sadly he turned her down.

After her success at Wimbledon she briefly entered the senior tour, but in her first professional tournament in Limoges, after qualifying for the main draw and beating her first round opponent she was forced to retire with a shoulder injury. She was handed a wildcard for her first WTA tournament in Luxembourg, but she lost in three sets to Iveta Benesova in the first round.

At the age of 14 years and nine months she won her first senior title in Sunderland, winning £772 prize money. Towards the end of 2008 she entered a few junior tournaments with little success, retiring from the final tournament of the year with stomach strain.

She was seeded fifth for the Australian Open girls' event, and she progressed to her second Grand Slam final, losing to Russia's Ksenia Pervak in straight sets, who was three years her senior.

Returning to Wimbledon, she was handed a wildcard entry for the women's event, where she faced former World No.5 Daniela Hantuchova in the first round. Despite winning the first set and being a break up in the second, she lost the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. In the girls' tournament as defending champion she lost to Quirine Lemoine in the third round.

Robson was handed a wildcard for the 2009 US Open qualifying tournament, but after winning her first two rounds, she lost in the final round of qualifying. The step up from the junior competition to the senior tour is not an easy one, but not yet 16, Robson is showing every sign of the potential to break into the top 100. 2010 will be a big year for her to prove there is more to come from the youngster.

2010 was the first time that Robson had played with Andy Murray. They played together in the Hopman Cup and made it to the final, losing to Spain. Robson managed to qualify for the Australian Open; she also reached the first round of Wimbledon and made it to the third round of the US Open. In September Robson announced her spilt form her coach, Martijn Bok - with Patrick Mouratoglou taking over in 2011.

During 2012 for the first time Robson entered a major within the top 100 but was knocked out of the first round at Wimbledon.

Robson was selected as a member of Team GB for London 2012 where she played doubles with Murray, again. She and the new Olympic singles champion made it to the final. Robson and Murray were conquered by Belarusian pair Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi in a nail biting tiebreak. But they left the Games with a silver medal.

During the US Open, Robson made it to the fourth round which is the first time a female Brit has reached that far in a grand slam in 14 years.

Career high
An unseeded entry into the junior draw at Wimbledon in 2008, Robson stole the show and captured the British public's imagination as she became the first British girls champion since Annabel Croft in 1984, beating fourth seed Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the final.

Career low
Missing out on an all-British final at the US Open in September 2009. Robson beat Lauren Davis in her quarter-final, but rain disruptions to the schedule earlier in the week meant she had to play her semi-final later that day. Despite starting strongly, winning the first set easily, she quickly tired and lost to Russia's Yana Buchina 1-6 6-3 7-5, who went on to lose to British junior number one Heather Watson in the final.

Quotes
"They said she's not just the best 14-year-old Britain's ever produced, but she is one of the best 14-year-olds they have ever seen. The foundations of her game are there. She doesn't have any weaknesses at all. She has a game that, with a bit more strength, would stand up with the pros. It's not a junior game that will need to be changed.... If she doesn't make the top 20 by the time she is 20, somebody will have seriously screwed up." Former British number one Sam Smith

"It's such an unattractive sound, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, it's up to the individual whether they want to do it or not and whether they think it helps. But I don't think it helps that much if you're screaming 110 decibels. I don't mind a normal grunt when you hit it, but when you're already grunting before and after you hit the shot, that's just taking to it a different level." Robson on the 'grunting' phenomenon in women's tennis

Trivia
Laura comes from a sporting family. Her mum Kathy was a professional basketball player, while her brother Nicholas swam an Olympic qualifying time. Meanwhile, one of her cousins represents Australia in kayaking, the other in hockey.