Robson regrets remarks about female players

Laura Robson apologised yesterday for comments in which she was reported to have called some of her fellow players "sluts" who "go with every guy and make such a bad name for themselves". The Women's Tennis Association said earlier this week that it wanted to study a transcript of the interview the former Wimbledon junior champion gave to Vogue magazine.

Robson said in a statement: "Firstly, I would just like to say a big sorry to anyone that I may have offended in an interview published recently. I made a totally inappropriate, throwaway comment without considering the consequences. I still have a lot to learn, both on and off the court, and clearly I need to be a lot more careful about how silly remarks may come across when taken out of context.

"I live for tennis, have many good friends in the game and I would never want to do anything that could hurt the reputation of a game I love. I will learn a lot from this and now just want to focus on my tennis."

The WTA said Robson had been right to apologise and had shown "maturity and good judgement" in doing so, adding: "It's never easy for a 16-year-old girl to answer questions about her private life and the lives of other players."

The Lawn Tennis Association is to spend up to £5m on upgrading facilities at the Edgbaston Priory Club, the venue for next week's Aegon Classic grass-court tournament.

The money will be spent on building a permanent show court – until now a temporary structure has been erected every year for the pre-Wimbledon event – and a six-court indoor centre adjacent to the club. The investment will also go towards improving the quality of the Priory club's other grass courts and on improving public access to tennis both locally and across the city.