Keothavong storms into Memphis quarter-finals
Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:27
Anne Keothavong notched up her second singles victory of the week in Memphis on Wednesday with a 7-6(2), 6-4 success over Portuguese hot prospect Michelle Larcher de Brito at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships.
The British No.1 and world No.52 had to fight for her life on her way to the last eight at the $220,000 event though, coming from behind in both sets.
‘I was too consistent for her’ – Keothavong
It will be the second Sony Ericsson WTA Tour quarter-final of the year for Keothavong after making the semi-finals at her first event of the season in New Zealand.
The 25-year-old from Hackney, east London, twice came from a break down in the first set and recovered from 0-4 in the second to book a quarter-final date with fifth seed and world No.57 Marina Erakovic from New Zealand. They meet in the second match after 11am local time on Thursday.
De Brito, the world No.124, will be kicking herself for missing chances throughout the second round encounter.
The 16-year-old was up 3-1 before throwing her early lead away and again a break up at 4-3 in the opening set before Keothavong took control of the match by racing through the first set breaker 7-2.
Again it was the Florida-based Portuguese who began the stronger in the second, quickly building a 4-0 advantage thanks to breaks of serve in the second and fourth games.
But once again Keothavong showed her fighting qualities by rattling off the last six games of the match.
Keothavong said afterwards that it wasnt her best tennis, but enough to get the job done.
I made a meal out of todays match against Michelle and found myself in a few tricky situations, she wrote in a blog on her personal website.
I was twice a break down in the first set despite serving quite a few aces and then went 4-0 down in the second set by not playing aggressively enough.
She came out with some screamers during the match and was a good competitor but I was too consistent for her and was able to come out with the bigger shots when it mattered.
Next up is Erakovic. The pair have played once before when the Kiwi came out on top in straight sets in the final of the Surbiton trophy last summer.
Im up for getting some revenge this time, Keothavong added.
Later in the day Keothavong and Italian partner Maria Elena Camerin lost their doubles quarter-final when they went down 6-4, 6-4 to top seeds Vania King from the USA and Russias Alla Kudryavtseva.
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