Wimbledon star Laura Robson won a double battle this afternoon to reach the second round of the Wimbledon Championships.

In front of a partisan crowd on number one court, the 19-year-old from Wimbledon beat the 10th seed Maria Kirilenko in straight sets, 6-3 6-4.

However, as the second, decisive, set drew to its conclusion, a series of miss-throws on the Robson serve revealed an attack of the nerves in crossing the finishing line.

But the Wimbledon-based hero, ranked 39 in the world, managed to overcome her fears and will now face Mariana Duque-Marino of Columbia, ranked 117, in the next round.

Robson said: “I thought I could win the match, but I didn't expect to win. It was a big win for me, any win against a top 10 player would be big.

“It was good that I managed to tough it out after I got so nervous in the second set.

“If you've seen me play before, having to start a ball toss again is nothing new, unfortunately. But it's something that I'm working on.”

She added: “The nerves start to creep in a little bit and you lose the timing a tad. 

“I'm in the process of changing my serve a little bit.  So I just had to kind of refocus on doing the right things and keep trying to hit the big shots.”

Robson’s next opponent, Duque-Marino overcame Julia Goerges of Germany in a three-set thriller, where the 23-year-old held her own nerve to win 6-4 6-7 7-5 – and Robson will go into the match the favourite, bringing with it a different pressure.

She said: “Mariana's a tough draw for sure, and she's pretty consistent. She's also got quite a nasty little slice.

“I may be the favourite, but you have to treat every match the same. Just go out there, stay focused the whole time.

“You might not have a good start or have a couple bad games, but you just have to stay on it no matter who you're playing.”