Laura Robson may only be 30, but she has already put a lot into her career on and off the tennis court.
When she won the girls' singles title at Wimbledon in 2008 at the age of just 14, she was considered a guarantee for great things.
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Four years later, she was named WTA Newcomer of the Year after reaching the fourth round of the US Open.
She defeated multiple Grand Slam winners Kim Clijsters and Li Na and also won an Olympic silver medal at the London 2012 Games at the age of just 18.
Robson and mixed doubles partner reached the final, where the British pair failed against the Belarusian duo Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi.
The following year Robson reached the fourth round but the Australian-born star was then plagued by injuries.
Ultimately, they ruined her career and forced her to retire in 2022.
After wrist surgery, the former British number 1 also had to undergo three hip operations.
She missed the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons due to injury and Robson called her quits from tennis at the age of 28.
That didn't mean she gave up the sport for good, but instead found ways to succeed in the world of tennis without a racquet in her hand.
She is a regular pundit for Eurosport's Grand Slam coverage and also for the BBC at Wimbledon.
In 2023 she was appointed tournament director at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
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She also got a job at Wimbledon, where she works on the international player relations team.
And now Robson has been appointed tournament director of the new Women's WTA 500 event at the Queen's Club in London.
She will be responsible for the return of women's tour tennis to London for the first time in 50 years.
Robson said: “I’m delighted to be taking on this role next summer. It is very exciting that women’s tennis is returning to the Queen’s Club for the first time in over 50 years.”
“It is an iconic venue and has been voted the men’s tournament of the year many times. I’m confident the women’s event will be just as exciting and I can’t wait to get started.”
She worked closely with Kate Middleton in her various roles, with Robson seen alongside the Princess of Wales at the All England Club.
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The former tennis star has received rave reviews from players – her main job is to keep them happy at events.
But despite the pressure of working in tennis administration, Robson has told talkSPORT she is loving her new career.
Discussion about her role as tournament director Show, Robson told talkSPORT in 2023: “I think there are different ways to become tournament director, but I really wanted to be involved behind the scenes.”
“I wanted to learn from the people who have run the events over the past few years, so we started putting everything together back in January.”
“And we check back regularly to see what we need to update and what might be better for players.”
“But the week of [the tournament]You just try to make the playing experience on the pitch as good as possible.
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“And I’m also part of the player relations team here at Wimbledon, which is very similar in a lot of ways in that we take all the feedback that we get over the course of the event and see if we can hopefully see some improvements next year already.
“But it’s a year-long thing that you just have to keep thinking about. It was very, very cool.”
Robson is going from strength to strength after turning heads as tournament director at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
Chris Pollard, LTA managing director of commercial and operations, said: “Laura did a fantastic job in Nottingham and received a lot of praise from the players. We are thrilled that she will be taking on this important role at Queens next year.
“We have worked hard to bring in British players like Laura and Jamie [Murray] can continue to use their knowledge and experience for the benefit of the game in this country, and it is great news that they will both be part of our experienced cohort of tournament directors.”
