Teen mentored by Andy Murray comes up short in US Open juniors – and that is no bad thing
Quiz question: what does the former British Futures player Oliver Golding have in common with Andy Murray and the 2014 Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov?
Answer: they all won the US Open junior tournament.
The statistic is a reminder that there are no guarantees in tennis. Film director Luca Guadagnino showed an appreciation for this point in his recent movie Challengers, in which the fortunes of a pair of promising juniors diverge sharply as soon as they joined the main tour.
Guadagnino also acknowledged the relative value of instinctive talent and daily application by making his character Art – the dogged self-improver – into a major champion, while mercurial shot-maker Patrick finds himself sleeping in his car at a series of country-club mini-events.
All of which brings us to Charlie Robertson. The 17-year-old Scot, who has been mentored by the Murray family, went out on Friday to play his junior semi-final against Norway’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer.
As a dress rehearsal for Jack Draper’s own grown-up semi-final later in the day, it was less than encouraging. Robertson’s diminutive stature – he claims to be 5ft 8in but looks smaller – put him at a clear disadvantage in his 6-3, 6-3 loss to the strapping 6ft 2in Scandinavian.
