Anne to take on Safarova
Keothavong draws Czech in Miami…
Anne Keothavong has been drawn to play Czech Lucie Safarova in the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open, which gets under way in Miami on Wednesday.
The British No.1 and world No.51 will be making her main draw debut at the $4.5 million WTA Tour Premier event when the action kicks off at Crandon Park.
Keothavong and world No.48 Safarova were pulled out of the hat together when the draw was made in Florida on Monday afternoon. They face one another in the second match on court 2 on Wednesday after a 10am local start.
The winner will earn a shot at the 18th seed Patty Schnyder from Switzerland in the second round of the 96-woman draw.
“I’ve never played Safarova before but I know it’ll be a tricky match,” Anne said. “She’s a powerful lefty who has been ranked higher than she is at the moment.
“I’m just going to go out there and try my best as always. It’s great to be here in Miami competing in the main draw of the Sony Ericsson for the first time and I want to enjoy the occasion.”
Thirteenth seed Caroline Wozniacki is a potential third round opponent and the duo are also in the same quarter as fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva.
Left-handed Safarova, 22, has had an up and down year so far. In January she made the last eight in Brisbane, lost in the first round of qualifying in Sydney, but reached the third round of the Aussie Open where she beat 24th seed Sybille Bammer in the first round.
In February she beat Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro while representing the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup, reached the last eight in Memphis and lost in the first round in Acapulco.
Earlier this month she reached her third quarter-final of the year in Monterrey before losing in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Fellow Brit Mel South is also in Miami. She beat Canadian Stephanie Dubois in the first round of the qualifying event and plays Austria’s Tamira Paszek for a place in the main draw.
To check out the draws in full visit the official Sony Ericsson Open website.
Order of play
Court 2 (from 10.00hrs)
1. Rus vs. Rybarikova
2. Safarova vs. Keothavong
3. Vandeweghe vs. Llagostera Vives
4. Vaidisova vs. Mayr
5. Gallovits vs. Dokic (NB 17.00hrs)
6. Niculescu vs. Paszek