Keothavong too good for Ani
British No.1 through in Morocco…
Anne Keothavong enjoyed the perfect start to her clay court season by moving into the second round of the Grand Prix SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Morocco on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old from London produced a businesslike performance to get past world No.110 Maret Ani from Estonia 6-2, 7-6 in the first round of the $220,000 WTA Tour event in Fes.
‘I’m pretty happy with the way I played’
The Briton made a good start thanks to some effective serving during the first set – she dropped just three points during her four service games.
It looked like the match was heading for a decider when the Estonian built a 5-2 lead in the second only for Keothavong to fight her way back into the set.
She won four successive games to go 6-5 up and although Ani stopped the rot by forcing a tie-break, Keothavong was too strong in the breaker, taking the final seven points from 0-3.
The Middlesex right-hander’s reward is a second round meeting with Spanish world No.96 Lourdes Dominguez Lino on Wednesday. The pair are the first match on court 4 at 11am local time.
Dominguez Lino shocked fifth-seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea in straight sets on Tuesday. The duo have met twice before, with their head-to-head stats reading 1-1.
Keothavong lost their first encounter in straight sets on hard in 2006 but got her revenge over the Barcelona-based player in the final of a clay court ITF event in Lebanon last May.
“I’m pretty happy with the way I played overall considering it was my first match on clay for a while,” Keothavong said.
“The first set was almost faultless from me and I stayed calm despite going 5-2 down in the second and just rallied my way back.
“Tomorrow’s match against Lourdes will be tough, she’s another clay-courter who had a good win today but I beat her on clay last year so I have a good idea about how I should play her.
“I’ve just got to be able to execute my gameplan as well as I did against her last May.”
As well as a singles, Keothavong will also play a doubles quarter-final with Hungarian partner Melinda Czink on Wednesday when the duo take on top seeds Maria Kirilenko and Cirstea.
Order of Play – Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Court Mjid (from 11.00hrs)
1. Vinci vs. Hercog
2. Medina Garrigues vs. Zakopalova
3. Groth vs. Kleybanova
4. Makarova vs. Morigami
5. Groth/Zakopalova vs. Domachowska/U.Radwanska
Court 1 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Hradecka vs. Peer
2. Pavlyuchenkova vs. Czink
3. Cetkovska/Hradecka vs. Ani/Vinci
4. Hercog/Olaru vs. Pavlyuchenkova/Rezai
Court 4 (from 11.00hrs)
1. Keothavong vs. Domínguez Lino
2. Fernández-Brugues vs. Domachowska
3. Cirstea/Kirilenko vs. Czink/Keothavong (after suitable rest)