Tennis: Laura Robson
The fact that she alerted the world to her talent four years ago at junior Wimbledon makes it easy to forget that Laura Robson is still only 18. There have been times, particularly when she has struggled with injuries and growing pains, when her potential has been called into question, but 2012 underlined her outstanding ability and 2013 has the makings of a memorable year for the current world No 53.
The youngest player in the world's top 75, Robson has the big-hitting game that has become so important in modern women's tennis.
While she is unlikely ever to match the athleticism of her fellow Briton Heather Watson, Robson has taken her fitness levels to new heights this year and added a steely determination to chase every ball. Those qualities were particularly evident in her remarkable victories over Kim Clijsters and Li Na at Flushing Meadows in the US Open last autumn.
Robson loves the big occasions. Wimbledon and the US Open are the Grand Slam tournaments where the courts suit her best, but she loves returning to Australia, the country of her birth, and Maria Sharapova's triumph in the French Open at Roland Garros this year proved that even players who lack the natural movement for clay can eventually learn to win on the surface.
