When a 15-year-old starts to talk about learning to mix the offensive with the neutral, you know you are dealing with someone a bit different. Laura Robson, the No1 seed for the French Open Junior Championship, is certainly different.

For a start, she is a British girl who has won a match in Paris - beating Russia's Karina Pimkina 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a first-round contest that was compulsive viewing by the end. Afterwards, though, she said: “To be honest, my expectations aren't that high. I'll just give it my best and see how it goes.”

These comments follow a long line of honourable British traditions - stiff upper lip before a late-afternoon taxi ride to Charles de Gaulle airport - on this surface and anyway, as Robson said: “I don't like the way the clay leaves stains on your socks.”

Robson faces Sandra Zaniewska, of Poland, in the second round. It may be that if she goes much farther in the tournament, Robson will attend a local school to take her English GCSE.

Examinations are coming thick and fast. We can only hope that one of these years Robson will relish the atmosphere here enough for the French Open to become something to be cherished. She can always put her socks in the wash.

There were not many marks on Serena Williams's footwear yesterday as the American thrashed Aleksandra Wozniak, of Canada, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals.

The work might be easy but the 2002 champion suggested that the women's game was way cattier, so it was much more interesting to watch.Williams said: “It's the truth, there are some great personalities out there on the women's tour, we are passionate about whatever we do, we ladies are.”

It will be interesting to see what she makes of Robson if ever their paths cross but, for now, in the last eight, she has to contend with Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, who beat Agnieszka Radwanska, from Poland, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.