TENNIS in DEPTH.

Laura Robson, the 15-year-old former Wimbledon junior champion, performed like an old hand as she took an encouraging opening few steps in her first US Open.

Despite the traditional distractions of this the most boisterous of the grand-slam tournaments, she secured a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Stéphanie Foretz, of France, who is ranked 332 places above her in the world rankings, in the first of what she clearly intends will be three successful qualifying rounds at Flushing Meadows.

From twice a break of serve down in the first set, which she won with a blitz of 12 successive points, Robson mastered the stiff breeze, court and opponent with equal self-assurance.

Many have found the surroundings here get right under their skin — Kevin Curren, the 1985 Wimbledon runner-up from South Africa, said he would have happily dropped a bomb on it. Others absolutely love the place. Andy Murray has never been anything than right at home in a city that requires nerveless command of one’s wits. Maybe Robson will come to thrive here, too.

Since this year’s Wimbledon, Robson has played only five matches in the minor leagues of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. She has preferred to hone her talents away from publicity’s glare at the Patrick Mouratoglou Tennis Academy near Paris.

She was scheduled to play in the Canadian Open Junior Championships next week when the call came from her management group saying that they had struck a deal for a wild card into qualifying for this prestigious event. She leapt at the chance.

Foretz is presently ranked No 128 in the world compared to the Briton’s No 460 placing, but once Robson overcame her early butterflies and began to unfurl her forehand, there was little resistance. Today, in the second round, Robson plays Aniko Kapros, of Hungary.

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