Keothavong in LTA dig

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:20

The 25-year-old has leapt from 52nd to 48th in the new WTA rankings, following her run to the semi-finals in the Cellular South Cup in Memphis last week.

And, although Keothavong is now content with the support provided to her by the LTA, she has criticised the sport’s governing body in Britain for hampering her progress earlier in her career and told BBC Sport: “There have been times when I’ve questioned whether I should move on and do something different but I never stopped loving tennis and I was willing to try something different, which paid off for me.”

She added: “If I knew what I know now I could’ve been in the top 50 years ago but I was influenced by some unprofessional people, which didn’t help, although ultimately it’s down to the individual.

“I’m now working with coaches I trust and, with their help, I’ll continue to improve further.

“I still believe there are unprofessional people working at the LTA and it saddens me because I want to see British tennis get even better.”

Keothavong has now set her sights on breaking into the game’s elite.

She said: “There’s still a lot more work to do as I want to climb further up the rankings and pick up a WTA Tour title somewhere this year.”

The Hackney-born player, of Laotian descent, added: “The standard of the top players is very high and intense but that doesn’t scare me, it just makes me want to be even better so I can play like them.”

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