From Melbourne to Milano Cortina: Robson's curling prep and 19 days without tennis!

In her latest Sky Sports column, Laura Robson reflects on a whirlwind start to 2026 beginning with the Australian Open in Melbourne, spending less than 24 hours back home, and then working at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games where she was left in awe of Matt Weston and somehow managed 19 days without watching ANY tennis...

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"I loved Australia. I always get to stay at my parents' house which makes things a lot easier. My mum does my laundry for me - thank you mum! - and she was even doing a sort of turndown service because we had so many late nights that when I got home, she would turn down my covers on my bed and made sure my phone charger was next to the bed. Full service - we'll give her a five-star review.

"But it was just really nice to catch up with my family outside of tennis because my niece and nephew are there as well.

"And also lucky that we had some great tennis as well, although the weather was very hit and miss.

"We had some extremely hot days and then the day that we had the men's final ended up being six degrees, so classic Melbourne. They're not joking when they say it's four seasons in a day."

Osaka's jellyfish‑inspired outfit

Arguably the moment of the tournament was Tim Henman's face when Naomi Osaka stepped out onto Rod Laver Arena ahead of her first-round match.

Osaka's grand entrance to the tournament went viral, as she walked out wearing a flowing, jellyfish‑inspired green and white outfit, accompanied by a hat, veil and parasol - a design she said her clothing sponsor, Nike, let her create.

"It was so funny because it was so unexpected. She always comes out in a cool outfit, but I don't think any of us were expecting the full veil with the combination of the umbrella and everything, but I loved it, it was something different and it was something easy to talk about which we appreciate with an outfit. It gave us a good topic of conversation, so I hope she carries it on and we see something equally fun for Roland Garros.

"I would much rather see a fun outfit that's interesting and easy to talk about than the exact same old thing. I don't think it's a bad thing at all."

No egos and 'dominant' Matt Weston

"After Melbourne I flew back home for less than 24 hours. I had enough time to unpack and repack for the Winter Olympics.

"It was a very busy couple of months, but it was incredible.

"I loved the curling, there was so much curling, but where I was in Cortina we also had the sliding sports, so I was very lucky to see both Matt Weston's gold medals in person.

"They zoom past you; it's quite a tough spectator sport but we were opposite his family so watching their reactions and his reaction as well but just how dominant he was, was the coolest thing.

"When you come from smaller sports there's no egos. They're so happy to be there. They're so grateful for the opportunity to compete on such a big stage and I really felt that chatting to all of them.

"It was great to do something totally different."

Curling prep

"On my flight home from Australia I was knee-deep in curling prep. With the amount of notes I had it was a lot, but you want to be prepared and I'm never going to know the tiny minute details about the curling, the skeleton, and the bobsleigh. At least I can feel prepared when I go into it and learn as I go as well.

"A couple of nights in a row a couple of the British curlers came to watch in the evening when they weren't competing and I would sit with them and be like 'why are they doing this?' and 'why are they doing that?' so they would take me through all the tactics. They were so generous with their time."

Robson, who also worked at the Paris Olympics in 2024, says the summer and winter games are very different.

"The winter games are so much more spread out. We were miles away from Livigno and Milan but when you're in the thick of it, you're swept up in all the sports that you're covering, whereas the summer games is a behemoth in a way. It's tough to compare but I love them both. I'm just such an Olympics fan.

"I didn't watch any tennis for 19 days that I was away! I kept up with the results but now I'm back in it I need to catch up."

Laura Robson will be part of our coverage at the 'Sunshine Double' in Indian Wells and Miami Open. Watch the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells from March 4, live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.