Keothavong goes down fighting
Austrian Mayr battles past Anne…
Patricia Mayr produced an impressive performance to beat Britain’s Anne Keothavong at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
The Austrian world No.80 recovered from being a point away from going a set down to record a 7-5, 6-2 first round victory over the British No.1 on Court 4.
The result earns the 22-year-old from Innsbruck a meeting with either Russian 32nd seed Anna Chakvetadze or German Sabine Lisicki in the second round.
After a nervy start by both players it was Keothavong who settled down quicker.
The first three games of the match featured three breaks of serve, but it was the 25-year-old Londoner who put herself in control by holding for a 3-1 lead.
The next passage of play was dominated by comfortable service games for both women and when Keothavong moved to set point with Mayr serving at 3-5 the match looked to be heading the Briton’s way.
Mayr responded with some brave tennis, though, saving set point with a crosscourt forehand winner before staging a remarkable comeback.
The blonde right-hander held serve for 4-5, before breaking to 30 when Keothavong served for the set.
Mayr held for 6-5 after saving two break points then applied enough pressure to strike again, taking the Keothavong serve to love to wrap up the opener after 54 minutes.
Mayr carried her momentum into the second and quickly established a 3-0 lead thanks to two holds and another break of serve.
Keothavong refused to go down without a fight, but despite coming through a couple of service games some erratic forehands let her down late in the match.
With the British No.1 serving to stay in the match at 2-5, Mayr struck again, breaking her opponent for a fifth time to book her place in round two.
“I felt like I was on the way to winning that first set and doing what I had to do, and then it all just kind of seemed to fall apart,” Keothavong said afterwards. “She hung in there well and the errors crept into my game.
“I feel like I’ve let myself down more than anything. You know, Wimbledon is such a special tournament to me. And, you know, this year especially, I just felt I’ve overcome so much just to get where I am
“I have higher expectations for myself. I feel like I’m a better tennis player now compared to where I was this time last year. But maybe that match in Paris [against Dinara Safina] actually dented my confidence more than I realised at the time.
“You know, every week, Birmingham, Eastbourne, here, I’ve always been on the back foot. I haven’t really been imposing myself or putting my opponents under enough pressure.
“I do feel like I’ve come such a long way. I’ve worked hard to get to where I’m at. I think I’ve shown lots of people that I am capable of playing better tennis.
“Although right now it’s really hard to look at all the positives, I’ve still got a lot to look forward to this summer.”
Keothavong is still involved in two events at this year’s Championships, the ladies and mixed doubles.
She partners Sarah Borwell in the ladies doubles and Ross Hutchins in the mixed.