Posted by Vassago on June 25, 2013, 3:09 pm

BEFORE: "The best British prospect in female tennis since Virginia Wade" is all you hear in All England Club these days when mentioning the name Laura. It's not even neccessary to add Robson because everyone knows who the Melbourne-born girl is. At age 19 she's got the tennis world at her feet and the only task is to deliver the goods in actual play. The girl in question doesn't dwell on the publicity much though: "I know what my priorities are, both on the tennis court and in the boxing ring. I need to earn my respect on the big stage, then we can talk about the profits. Maria Kirilenko is my first opponent and I'm glad it happens here in London where I had so much success before in the past. Now it's time to add some boxing scalps to my tennis ones and Kirilenko is almost as good as it gets!"

But her opponent, Moscow native Maria Kirilenko isn't that impressed with the brunette's attire at the early stage of her career: "I know what everyone says about Laura. Sure, she's got talent, she's got a big punch I hear, she's a lefty which causes a lot of trouble for many girls in the ring. I know all about what she's got. But I also know she's only raw power and no technique and let me tell you, it will be my pleasure to expose her technical flaws since the power alone ain't gonna make it against me!"

There's more at stake for Kirilenko than just beating Robson in front of her home crowd. The British teenager has joined the Adidas camp not so long ago and threatens to upstage the brand's pin-up girls, Caroline Wozniacki and indeed Maria herself. Word around Church Road is that Adidas has put extra bonus on the table for the winner of this bout and it's never a bad thing to take another tour at Oxford Street later in the week. The fight is scheduled for ten rounds in the welterweight division.

Laura Robson wearing a yellow sports bra, white knickers and red gloves. Brown hair tied in a loose braid. Maria Kirilenko wearing a red sports bra, white knickers and blue gloves. Blonde hair tied in a long, tight braid.

Round 1:
Kirilenko tries to intimidate the youngster with some high-tempo jabbing right from the start and swings around Laura's head as the crowd begins to cheer for the brunette already to give her extra push against the favored Russian. First few attempts fly astray but then Maria connects and snaps Laura's head back as the Briton takes it easy and just looks to avoid leather; fails to do so and must cover up in the middle of the ring as Maria closes on her and works the jabs on the guard, keen to slice it apart and connect with the flesh but Laura refuses to buckle early. She allows Kirilenko to throw some more punches before finally stepping back and trying to break the close range but the blonde is right after her and begins to hassle around the ring as the alleged punching power of the Briton is nowhere to be seen and it's all Maria down the stretch, single striking over the top, switching low on one-off basis, not hurting the brunette much but still making her look very raw in the ring. At the bell crowd is unsure what they paid tickets for since Laura was on the back foot all the way through whereas Kirilenko just nods back to her camp in "I told ya so" fashion.

Round 2:
Maria tries to close the distance straight from the start again, sends a right hook over the top; Laura dekes to the side, slices a right that bounces off the chest but then a left follow up sky-high... high enough for the blonde's temple and IT WHACKS THE RUSSIAN who suddenly bends to the side and lets out a quick moan; here comes Laura spotting her chance and pummels to the face with Maria's arms still too low to provide cover, right/left combo spikes her on the nose and reels back to the ropes, Kirilenko seeks safety, jumps to the left but still gets tagged with a seemingly wayward right and falls on the ropes as Robson stands tall from mid-range and switches low. Kirilenko goes with the high guard but the brunette pummels around the elbows and connects with the ribs as the blonde's moaning suddenly is perfectly heard around Wimbledon despite the crowd going mad. Laura with high-tempo jabbing herself, traps Maria on the ropes and clips her jaw when the Russian drops her guard to protect the aching midsection before another left hook catches her on the temple and sends towards the turnbuckle. Another right bangs the Russian on the tummy and there's utter disbelief in her eyes as Robson threatens to run away with a 10-8 round, in fact she does when another series is signed off with an uppercut on the jaw and Kirilenko never recovered from that early hook. Russian crew on red alert while even Robson seems surprised by that showing!

Round 3:
Virginia Wade leads the applause from the first row as Laura keeps outworking the blonde from mid-range and sends more shots on the tummy with Maria's inferior reach giving her trouble against the suddenly rampant teenager. She just can't close the local favorite down and just grazes the flesh before getting tagged on the chin by another left hook and Laura switches high for good, has Kirilenko weaving around on her feet and stepping back but still eating single hands on the cheeks as Robson keeps charging, forces the blonde to seek cover but there isn't any and the crowd errupts when another right/left combo snaps Maria's head back and gives her some early lumps. Laura works the single hand along the stretch, keeps her opponent dancing around the ropes and struggling for precision and damage in mid-range, switches low again in the final minute and bangs a series on the ribcage; Kirilenko yelps in a mix of pain and anger and retreats towards the ropes, tries to counter over the top, but eats a sharp left hook on the ribs and just sags back on the ropes with her eyes closed, allows the brunette to clean out her midriff thereafter and can't even find a clinch as Laura laces her on the kidneys, shoves deep into the ropes and the ref has to drag the teenager away from the Russian at the bell as the crowd goes wild in the proccess one more time.

Round 4:
Early signs of survival mode for the Russian who tries to bide some time along the ropes but the crowd urges Robson to punish her anyway and the teenager responds, keeps swinging around the head herself and has Maria tripping over her own feet in avoidance, low reponse grazes Laura's abs though and stops her charge until the second minute. Both girls circle around each other before Maria leaps away from the ropes with a couple of big hooks, catches Laura on the chin but misses a follow-up on the eye as Robson ducked to the side and slammed a right on the cheek herself, no real power behind that shot and Kirilenko goes for another try, right hand on the mouth and left on the jaw but the latter gets blocked and Robson clinches her instead. A brief struggle in the middle of the ring before the ref steps in; blonde has found some confidence after difficult couple of rounds, leaps with another aggressive charge but crashes off the guard with a straight jabbing attempt, eats a series on the ribs instead and reels back, gasps for air as Laura decides not to hassle her anymore before the bell and allthough the crowd keeps chanting the brunette's name, that round was pretty even to stop the Robson juggernaut.

Round 5:
Kirilenko's keen to stop her foe's momentum for good and jumps after her straight from the bell but Laura knows the trick, steps around the Russian who struggles in mid-range again and before realizing her futile efforts gets tagged with another low jabbing on the ribs and sags on her knees as Laura works the single hand instead, left hand of course, and spikes her around the liver area. Kirilenko with a left overhand herself, just misses a nose piledriver but gets caught with a right on the tummy and winces in pain as Laura leans on her, fakes another low attempt and cracks a left uppercut instead, snaps the blonde's head back and rocks her on the spot, throws a right on the eye and Maria gets shoved to the ropes, takes couple of wobbly steps and by the time she raises her arms a right straight whacks her on the eye and causes the loudest groan yet, more uppercuts follow as Kirilenko struggles butt-in-ropes and just covers up and Robson's keen to shatter the mitts apart. Crowd cheer her every punch and there are plenty on display with the Russian unable to handle the barrage, just hoping to survive until the bell as Laura moans herself now, really wants to connect with Kirilenko's face again and she succeeds in the dying seconds of non-stop pounding, finds an uppercut on the jaw and a left hook on the eye as Maria takes punishment like seldom seen before and almist screams out at the bell when the brunette cracks another hook on the other cheek and leaves a deep gash. Laura refuses to head back to her corner yet; examines her efforts as the blonde's face shows extended swelling and Kirilenko doesn't even want to look in her eyes, shoves her back and walks slowly to her camp where she just closes her eyes while the cutmen have their hands full.

Round 6:
More trouble for the Russian vixen as Laura shows more agility & speed across the canvas; these teenages act like they can lay some leather all day long without stopping and Maria's midsection becomes the target early in the sixth. The high guard was quick to show at first but Robson just slammed a series around the elbows and stranded the blonde on the spot with the punch resistance reaching red limits now for Kirilenko and she's shut down from mid-range, single striking just not doing any harm to the local favorite who just keeps making a mush out of her stomach instead and has a moaning Russian on the ropes in the second minute, pumping leather from both arms and some people in the stands begin to wonder how long can Kirilenko take this onslaught? As much as her exprience helps her escape a devastating knockout for the time being, she offers no resistance to Laura's efforts aymore and basically allows her to beat her up. More moans & groans from the blonde who can't even rely on her footwork as Robson beats her like a drum and keeps trapped on the ropes, hammers around the elbows at will and keeps Maria sinking on her knees and taking another minute of punishment. Things hardly change thereafter but Robson cracks couple of uppercuts that send Kirilenko against the turnbuckles, the arms struggle to stay high enough as well and Laura snaps the blonde braid one more time just before the bell, cracks a right/left combo on the cheeks and Kirilenko's staggered on the ropes, can't even make it back to her corner without some limp, she's taken a heavy punishment tonight and the cutmen don't even patch up all her lumps before the bell sounds for the seventh time and some people believe this won't take long anymore.

Round 7:
Give credit to the blonde though, she's avoided knockdowns so far but is on a funereal pace now, arms way too low to provide cover in wake of a quick attack and Laura lands a right/left combo on the face seconds into the seventh.. Maria looks at her... and does nothing, another right/left follows and this time the brow ridge bursts into pieces as blood starts to seep from the wound before a left uppercut completes the destruction... DOWN GOES KIRILENKO FLAT ON HER BACK as the Wimbledon crowd errupts in joy. Maria raises her arms and then her head as the ref begins the count but she's still horizontal on her back at five and the ship has sailed. At nine the head goes back on the floor, arms drop on the chest and it's a huge KO7 for Laura Robson!!!

AFTER: Only now the brunette youngster can offer the rampant crowd a smile but she still can't believe it and just shakes her head before clapping her mitts against her thighs moments later as the feeling starts to sink in. Several big smiles in the first row too, the old guard: Virginia Wade and Anabel Croft, the new guard: Heather Watson and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, Robson's closest friend on tour. The standing ovation is so long and deafening that nobody even cares about the fallen Russian who manages to roll back on all fours and crawl her way out of the ring in the most humiliating fashion possible.

"Did I expect this?", says Laura in post-fight interview, "Never! I mean I just hoped I can make it past the fifth round and then perhaps grind out a decision but that was a tough ask anyway. Yet when I got in the ring and landed that first combo - albeit that took me some time (laughs) - I just flipped, you know. I realized I can punch her and hurt her and by the fifth I had her all roughed up. I never suspected I can demolish Maria Kirilenko on my debut but guess that's what I did, right?" - "Riiiiight', the crowd's response caps off a perfect night for the UK faithful at Wimbledon with several similar ones almost destined to happen in the future.

Caroline Wozniacki tweets: "Laura takes the cigar! Shame on you Maria! #MyTurnNow".

Final result: Laura Robson def. Maria Kirilenko KO7.