Laura Robson said she got “really, really lucky” as she talked about being caught up in October’s mass shooting in Las Vegas for the first time.

The 23-year-old was at the Route 91 Harvest music festival with friends when lone gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire from a nearby hotel, killing 58 people and wounding more than 500.

Robson and her friends managed to escape unharmed but she is well aware that things could have been very different.

Gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded more than 500
Gunman Stephen Paddock killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 after firing into the concert on the Las Vegas Strip, pictured (Martyn Landi/PA)

She said: “It was a crazy, crazy thing to happen and I got really, really lucky. My friends got really, really lucky. I don’t really like to think about it.

“We were really, really lucky in that we were off to the side so you hear everything and stuff like that but we were on the way out anyway. So many people weren’t lucky.”

Robson initially did not realise what was happening. “I thought it was something on the stage. My friend, one of the girls I was with, she is from North Carolina so she was the first one to be like, ‘hang on here, that is definitely bullets’.”

She paid tribute to one of the event’s organisers as “the hero that day”.

In the wake of the massacre that unfolded beneath the luxury Mandalay Bay hotel she told Twitter followers: “I’m okay. We were right there.. sounded like fireworks at first then everyone started running.”

Travel Stock – Las Vegas
The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas (Dave Thompson/PA file)

Robson’s family helped her come to terms with what had happened in the immediate aftermath but she is determined to carry on with life as normal.

“I just got a big hug from my mum when she picked me up from the airport the next day,” she said. “I was meant to go home for a while anyway, which was probably really a good thing because I just spent five days in the house without really leaving.

“It was sweet really because when I got home my dogs could sense that I was a bit off so they just sat on me for five days. After that you have to get back to real life and back on the court. But I’m definitely a bit more thankful.”

Robson was on court at the Australian Open on Wednesday but she and American partner Coco Vandeweghe lost their first-round doubles match.

Robson's ranking is still below 200, two years after her comeback from wrist surgery
Robson’s ranking is still below 200, two years after her comeback from wrist surgery (Steven Paston/PA)

Two years after her return from wrist surgery, Robson is still languishing at 227 in the world and was not ranked high enough to get into qualifying for the singles at Melbourne Park.

For a player ranked in the top 30 as a teenager, it has been a hugely dispiriting time, but she has reunited with Dutch coach Martijn Bok, who guided her to her Wimbledon junior title in 2008, and insisted she is feeling positive once more.

“I actually feel good,” she said. “I feel very happy on court for the first time in a long time. I’m happy to be back with Martijn. We’re putting in some good work on the practice court. I feel very happy and super motivated.

Robson has reunited with Dutchman Martijn Bok, who coached her to the Wimbledon junior title in 2008
Robson has reunited with Dutchman Martijn Bok, who coached her to the Wimbledon junior title in 2008 (Lewis Whyld/PA)

“We stayed in touch the whole time that we were apart. It sounds weirdly romantic, but it’s not. He started emailing me and my family again and he was quite upset about my results and how it hadn’t started coming together.

“I felt like I was stuck in this spot where I wasn’t getting any better. I couldn’t pinpoint what I was doing wrong and why I felt so bad on court, why I was so unhappy in practice and in matches. It was getting a bit overwhelming.

“To change my whole scenery and get Martijn back and spend a bit more time with my family at the end of the year, it just made a difference. From whenever I got here, Boxing Day or something, I’ve felt a lot lighter on court and a lot happier.

“My goal for the end of the year is to be back in the top 100 but really, for me, I want to feel the best possible version of myself again on court. That’s something that’s just not been there the last few years.”