Keothavong contemplates long road back
Anne targets February return…
British No.1 Anne Keothavong is putting a brave face on what will be a testing six months and says she hopes to be back on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in February 2010.
The 25-year-old from east London brought her 2009 season to a premature end last week when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament and the meniscus in her left knee while competing in California.
The right-hander, who reached three WTA Tour semi-finals in the first half of the season and peaked at a career-high singles world ranking of No.48 in the spring, badly twisted her knee attempting to avoid a collision with a fence while chasing a ball during a first round doubles match.
“I was running full speed and as I got to the ball I thought, ‘Oh no, I’m going to hit the side-netting,’” Keothavong says.
“I twisted my knee trying to turn away but I still went into the fence – maybe I should have just ran straight into it and accepted a few cuts and bruises instead!”
She was treated in California before flying back to London and landing in the UK on Friday.
Since returning, she has seen doctors and physiotherapists and has arranged to meet with Jonathan Webb, a Bristol-based orthopaedic surgeon and knee specialist, the same doctor that operated on her right knee back in 2004 when she suffered a similar injury.
“I’ll be meeting Jonathan on Tuesday so after that I will know when I’ll have the operation – he has to wait for some of the swelling to go down before he can treat me.
“I need to talk a few things over with him, consider the options open to me and then we’ll decide a way forward.”
Despite what has been a pretty bleak few days for the world No.55, Keothavong is already planning her comeback and has an idea of when she hopes to be back hitting balls and then competing for world ranking points.
“When I had an op’ on my right knee I was hitting balls up and down the court after about six weeks,” she says.
“However, I was 21 then and this time around I’m nearly 26 so I won’t be rushing any aspect of the recovery and will take it a step at a time.”
Under WTA Tour rules, players who are injured for long periods can apply to come back with a ‘protected ranking’ which means they can gain entry to the same level of tournaments they were playing before they were sidelined.
There is, then, at least some good news on the horizon given the Briton will be able to play the biggest and best women’s events when she feels ready to return.
“To qualify for a protected ranking you have to miss at least six months which means I won’t be back until at least February next year,” she explains.
“My ranking shouldn’t drop too much while I’m away – I think I’ll be around 100 by the end of the year.
“You can use your protected ranking at around eight or nine events I think and you have up to a year to use it.
“I’ll be careful and I won’t rush into anything.”