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Anne Viensouk Keothavong (born 16 September 1983) is a British former
tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. In her career, she won a total of 28 titles on the
ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmenta ...
, and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 (achieved February 2009). She also reached the semifinals of six
WTA International tournaments The WTA International tournaments was a category for tennis tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association from the 2009 WTA Tour until 2020, which replaced the previous Tier III and Tier IV categories. As of 2021 these events have been reclassifie ...
, and the semifinals of one Premier tournament. Keothavong was British No. 1 and in 2009 became the first British player to make the WTA top 50 since 1993. In April 2001, aged 17, she became, until Katie Swan in 2016, the youngest player ever to play in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
for the British team, and she is second (alongside
Elena Baltacha Elena Sergeevna Baltacha (; 14 August 1983 – 4 May 2014) was a Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, she was also a long-term British No. 1, a position she held intermittently ...
) to
Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all fo ...
's record for most Fed Cup ties played for the
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
with 39. Keothavong announced her retirement on 24 July 2013. After that, she became a member of
BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
's tennis coverage team, alongside
Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova (, ; ; born October18, 1956) is a Czech-American former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, singles for 332 weeks (List of WTA number ...
and fellow British ex-number one Sam Smith. In 2017, Keothavong became Fed Cup captain for Great Britain, leading the team to win all four ties played in the Europe/Africa Zone Group I. She continued as captain for the
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
and 2019 Fed Cup, winning promotion in April 2019 to World Group II for the first time in 26 years.


Early and personal life

Keothavong was born in Hackney in London, to parents who had fled from their war-torn home country of
Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
in the 1970s. Her father, Somsak, encouraged her to play short tennis from an early age. Her mother's name is Vathana and she has two brothers: James, who is a tennis umpire, and Mark. She also has a sister, Lena. Keothavong attended Kingsland Secondary School in Hackney. At the age of seven, she took up tennis at Hackney Downs and Highbury Fields. Her preferred surface was hardcourt. Keothavong married Andrew Bretherton, a
corporate law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...
yer, on 28 February 2015. They have a son and a daughter.


Career


Junior (1996–2001)

Keothavong played her first match on the ITF Junior Circuit in February 1996, at age 12, and her last in August 2001. In singles, she won one title at the LTA Junior International Tournament – Bisham Abbey where she beat compatriot
Elena Baltacha Elena Sergeevna Baltacha (; 14 August 1983 – 4 May 2014) was a Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, she was also a long-term British No. 1, a position she held intermittently ...
in the final. She also reached a total of three semifinals (one of which was at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships where she was beaten by
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (, ; ; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina ...
, the future world number one, who like Keothavong, went on to reach a higher ranking in seniors than in juniors) and ten quarterfinals. In junior doubles, she won one tournament, the 13th Salik Open, and lost in the final of two others: the LTA International Junior Tournament – Bisham Abbey and the 11th Malaysian International Junior Championships. All three of these were in 1999 and all three were partnering Elena Baltacha.


1998–2001

Keothavong played her first professional match on the
ITF Women's Circuit The ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, previously known as the ITF Women's Circuit, is a series of professional tennis tournaments run by the International Tennis Federation for female professional tennis players. History It serves as a developmenta ...
in April 1998, at age 14, when she fell in the first round of qualifying for a $10k tournament in Birmingham. That year she played only two more matches (in the qualifying tournaments for $10k events in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and Felixstowe) and lost both of them. She finished the year without a world ranking. During May 1999, Keothavong played in a total of five ITF tournaments with her best result being in the $10k event in Sunderland where she won three matches to qualify and then reached the second round. In the other four events, she either lost in the first round or qualifying stages. Her final ranking of the year was world No. 702. In
2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
, Keothavong played ten ITF events, losing in the qualifying stages in one, round one in three others, the second round four times (once as a
lucky loser A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw. This can occur when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness ...
) and the quarterfinal in the $50k tournament in Cardiff. The other tournament she entered was the qualifying event for
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
in which she participated courtesy of a wildcard. She beat Eva Martincová in round one of qualifying before losing to Yuka Yoshida. She improved her ranking to world No. 377.
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
started well for Keothavong; in her first tournament of the year she won the title by beating compatriot
Emily Webley-Smith Emily Webley-Smith (born 14 July 1984) is a British professional tennis player. She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 240, achieved on 7 November 2011. She also has a best WTA doubles ranking of No. 113, set on 2 November 2015. Web ...
in the quarterfinals and Elodie Le Bescond in the final. She then reached the quarterfinals of her next tournament, the $10k event in Tipton. In February, she reached the semifinals in Sutton, London ($25k) as a qualifier. She played in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
for the first time in April and lost all three of her singles rubbers in straight sets. In June, she was given wildcards into the qualifying draws for the Birmingham Classic (where she was beaten in the first round of qualifying) and the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
(where she reached the second round of qualifying) and the main draw of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. She faced
Janet Lee Janet Lee ( zh, 李慧芝, born October 22, 1976) is a Taiwanese-American retired tennis player. She won three doubles titles during her professional career on the WTA Tour. She competed in all four Grand Slam tournaments in both singles and d ...
in round one and lost. In September and October, she reached three ITF quarterfinals (one $50k, one $25k and one $10k) and one semifinal ($25k). Her ranking at the end of 2001 was No. 268.


2002

She started slowly the new season; she played in 13 ITF tournaments and did not pass the second round in any. In June, she was given a wildcard into the qualifying draw of Birmingham where she lost in round one. She also attempted to qualify for the Eastbourne International and was again beaten in the first round. In the main draw of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, she lost in round one to Virginie Razzano. Immediately after Wimbledon she headed to Felixstowe to participate in a $25k tournament where she reached the quarterfinals. In August and September, she reached four consecutive ITF finals, winning three. She won the first in Bath beating Hannah Collin. She was victorious in London when she defeated Yvonne Doyle but lost in the third final in Glasgow to Selima Sfar. In Sunderland, her fourth consecutive final of August and September, she won by again beating Hannah Collin. She competed in three more $25k tournaments that year and reached the semifinals in two of them. Her final ranking of 2002 was 233.


2003

The first tournament of
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
for her was the qualifying event for the Hobart International where she lost to Tiffany Dabek in the first round. Keothavong then headed to the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
in order to attempt to qualify and she again lost in the first round to Sandra Klösel. After this she headed to the ITF Circuit and won the $25k event in Belfort by defeating Nathalie Viérin in the final. Two weeks later she reached the quarterfinals of a $25k in Redbridge, London and the week after that lost in the final of yet another $25k event in Ostrava. In March, she reached the quarterfinals of Redding, California ($25k) and in April she headed to Portugal to represent Great Britain in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
. She won two of her four singles rubbers. May saw Keothavong reach the second round of qualifying for the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. In her next tournament (Surbiton $25k), she reached the semifinals but had to withdraw before the match. Keothavong did not compete again until mid-June when she was given a wildcard into the main draw of the Eastbourne International where she was defeated by Japanese veteran,
Ai Sugiyama is a Japanese former tennis player. She reached the world No. 1 ranking in women's doubles on the WTA Tour and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8, achieved on February 9, 2004. In her career, she won six singles and 38 doubles ...
. A second consecutive wildcard gave her entry into the main draw of the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
where she had to withdraw during her first-round match against
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20, on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she became the No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding thi ...
with the score at 2–6, 0–4. Reaching the final round of qualifying for the US Open, she lost to Maureen Drake and had no more notable results that year which she finished with a singles ranking of 177.


2004

The season began well for Keothavong as she started off by qualifying for the Tier-V Hobart International, beating
Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian inactive professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam up ...
along the way. In the first round she faced world No. 69, Rita Grande, but was beaten. This was followed by an attempt to qualify for the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. She was beaten in the first round of qualifying by Stephanie Gehrlein. In February, she reached the quarterfinals of ITF events in Sunderland ($25k) and Saint Paul ($50k), beaten by Lisa Stanciute and Jill Craybas, respectively. The next month, she won the sixth ITF title of her career by beating Mashona Washington in the final of the $25k event in Redding. In late April and early May, she represented Britain in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
and won all three of her singles rubbers, but lost her one and only doubles match with partner, Elena Baltacha, before going on to lose in the first round of qualifying for the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
to Květa Peschke. In the run up to Wimbledon, Keothavong was given a wildcard into the main draw of the Birmingham Classic where in the first round she faced world No. 60, Marta Marrero, who she managed to beat in three sets. Keothavong came up against world No. 56,
María Sánchez Lorenzo María Antonia Sánchez Lorenzo (born 7 November 1977) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. Her highest WTA ranking has been world No. 33, a position she achieved in April 2004. She played two-handed on both sides, and her fa ...
(the 16th seed) in the second round and lost in three sets. She headed to the main draw of the Tier-II Eastbourne International and faced No. 8 seed,
Magdalena Maleeva Magdalena Georgieva Maleeva (, ; born 1 April 1975) is a Bulgarian former professional tennis player. Her best WTA singles ranking was world No. 4. She played on the WTA Tour competing in singles and doubles, from April 1989 to October 2005 ...
, and was again beaten in three sets. A wildcard granted Keothavong entry to the main draw of Wimbledon for the fourth consecutive year where she won her first-round match, beating Nicole Pratt, the world No. 41, in a performance assisted by a rain delay when Keothavong was 3–1 down in the first set. The eventual champion, Maria Sharapova, beat her in the second round. Keothavong played in two $50k events in the United States reaching the second round in one and the quarterfinals in the second, in Lexington, Kentucky where she had to withdraw due to sustaining serious ligament damage with the score at 5–7, 3–5. She did not play again that year and finished with a WTA ranking of No. 175.


2005

Keothavong recovered well from her injury and returned to action ahead of schedule in March at the $10k tournament in Sunderland where she suffered a three-set first-round defeat by
Verdiana Verardi Verdiana Verardi (born 16 December 1987) is an Italian former professional tennis player. Verardi has career-high WTA rankings of 358 in singles, achieved on 15 June 2009, and 287 in doubles, set on 7 May 2007. She won four singles and ten doub ...
. She then immediately reached three successive $10k finals; the first in Bolton and the second two in Bath. She won the first two by beating Veronika Chvojková and Claire Peterzan, respectively, and lost the third to compatriot, Melanie South. The first of the two tournaments in Bath was also the only time Keothavong competed with her sister Lena in doubles on the ITF Circuit. They reached the quarterfinals together. In late April, Keothavong competed in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
and helped Britain avoid relegation from the Africa/Europe Zone Group I by beating
Caroline Wozniacki Caroline Wozniacki (; born 11 July 1990) is an inactive Danish professional tennis player. She has been ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA, hold ...
to help Britain beat
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. This meant that although they lost ties against
Serbia and Montenegro The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
and
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, they avoided a place in the relegation play-offs for another year. In May, she reached the semifinals of a $25k event in Monzón where she lost to
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 wee ...
. She was then given a wildcard into the main draw of the Birmingham Classic but she lost to
Laura Granville Laura Granville (born May 12, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. During the two years she spent at Stanford University, she set the record for most consecutive singles victories with 58 and finished with an overall record o ...
in the first round. This was followed by a wildcard into the Eastbourne qualifying tournament where Arantxa Parra Santonja defeated her in the first round. After this, another wildcard allowed Keothavong entry into the main draw of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
where she faced Mariana Díaz Oliva in the first round and lost in straight sets. Keothavong competed on the ITF Circuit for the rest of the year (except when she reached the second round of the Tier-III event, the Bell Challenge, where she lost to Sofia Arvidsson) and won two more titles. The first was in Nottingham where she beat Karen Paterson in a three-set final, and the second was a $25k tournament in Lagos where she defeated Maša Zec Peškirič to win the title. She also reached one more $25k final this year, also in Lagos, where she lost to
Petra Cetkovská Petra Cetkovská (; born 8 February 1985) is a retired Czech tennis player. Having turned professional in 2000, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, on 18 June 2012. Over her career, Cetkovská defeated top-ten players Mari ...
in three sets. Her year-end ranking for 2005 was world No. 239.


2006

Keothavong started her
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
season by losing in the first round of qualifying for the Brisbane International (Tier III), the final round of qualifying for the Hobart International and the second round of qualifying for the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. In February, she returned to Britain and reached the final of the ITF tournament in Jersey where she beat Ana Vrljić to win the title. She then entered the $25k event in Sunderland where she beat four compatriots; Melanie South, Rebecca Llewellyn, Sarah Coles and Katie O'Brien in straight sets to reach the final where she was beaten by Elise Tamaëla. Later in February, Keothavong reached the quarterfinals of a $25k tournament in Orange, California and one month later, in March, she reached another $25k final. In April, she reached the semifinals of the $25k event in Patras and competed for Great Britain in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
where she won one of her three singles rubbers. She qualified for the
Internationaux de Strasbourg The Internationaux de Strasbourg (formally known as the Strasbourg Grand Prix) is a professional women's tennis tournament held in Strasbourg, France. The tournament has been organized in May since its inception in 1987 and serves as a warm-up eve ...
, a Tier-III tournament, where she lost to
Anna Smashnova Anna Aleksandrovna Smashnova (, ; born July 16, 1976) is a Soviet-born Israeli former tennis player. She retired from professional tour after Wimbledon 2007. Smashnova reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 15 in 2003. She reached ...
in the first round. Keothavong competed in four tournaments in June: a $25k event in Surbiton, Birmingham, Eastbourne and
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
. She was beaten by Laura Granville in the semifinals,
Eleni Daniilidou Eleni Daniilidou (; ; born 19 September 1982) is a Greek former tennis player from the island of Crete. She is considered one of the best Greek tennis players of the Open Era, winning five singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tou ...
in round one,
Vera Dushevina Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina (; born 6 October 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won one singles title and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. As a junior, she won the Wimbledon Championships, beating Maria Sharapova in ...
in the first round and Karolina Šprem in the first round, respectively. During her US hardcourt season, she reached the quarterfinals of a $50k tournament in Lexington where she fell to Camille Pin of France. In August, Keothavong lost in the first round of qualifying for the US Open and followed this up with three consecutive first-round losses in WTA Tour events. She then returned to the ITF Circuit playing $25k tournaments and won one more title, in Přerov. She also reached two semifinals (Glasgow and Opole) and a quarterfinal in Jersey. She ended the season with her ranking at No. 168.


2007

The new season began in the same way as the 2006 for Keothavong; she again started her year by falling in qualifying for the WTA events in the Hobart International and the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
. In February she reached two consecutive ITF semifinals in Tipton ($25k) and St. Paul ($50k) before going on to lose in qualifying for the Cellular South Cup and in qualifying for Indian Wells in March. Keothavong again represented her country in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
in April and won one of her three singles matches. In May, she reached the semifinals of an $25k in Antalya and lost in the second round of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
qualifying tournament to María Emilia Salerni. As in 2006, June saw Keothavong lose in the first round of
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, the Eastbourne International and
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
after she was given a wildcard into each of these events. Elena Baltacha was her conqueror in the Hastings Direct whereas
Jelena Janković Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the W ...
was the victor over Keothavong in Wimbledon. After Wimbledon, Keothavong reached two consecutive finals of $50k events in Lexington and Vancouver, facing Stéphanie Dubois in the finals of both and winning once. Following this she lost in qualifying for the Rogers Cup, the US Open and
Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
, before going on to reach her first ever WTA Tour semifinal in the Sunfeast Open, a Tier-III tournament held in Kolkata. She did this by defeating
Sara Errani Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. Errani is one of only seven women who have completed a career Grand Slam (tennis)#Golden Slam, Golden Slam in doubles. She is an Olympic Games gold medalist, a former ...
in the first round, Sunitha Rao in round two and Tzipi Obziler in the quarterfinals. She lost to Mariya Koryttseva in the semifinals. In October, she reached the quarterfinals of the $25k tournament in Rockhampton, Queensland and her year-ending singles ranking was 122.


2008

Keothavong's
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
campaign began when Keothavong failed to qualify for the Tier-II tournament, the
Sydney International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament ...
. She then attempted to qualify for the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
and won her first match against Jorgelina Cravero before losing her second to
Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been WTA rankings, ranked by the Women's Tennis Association, WTA as high as No. 28 in singles and No. 11 in doubles. She has won three singles and 10 dou ...
. February saw her join compatriots, Melanie South, Katie O'Brien and Elena Baltacha, to represent Britain in the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
. Despite Keothavong winning each of her three singles matches in the round-robin stage, Britain was forced to fight relegation from the Europe/Africa Group I by playing
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
. They won 2–0 thanks to yet another victory in singles from Keothavong and a singles victory from O'Brien. For the remainder of February, Keothavong competed on the ITF Circuit and reached the quarterfinals of a $25k event in Stockholm and won a $25k title in Capriolo. In early April, she lost in the final of a $50k tournament; this one in Patras where
Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Champion ...
defeated her in straight sets. Continuing competition on the ITF Circuit, she won a $50k tournament in Jounieh, Lebanon (despite break outs of fighting between
Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
and
Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
militia less than ten miles away in Beirut). This tournament win propelled Keothavong into the top 100 for the first time in her career and guaranteed her a place in the main draw of Wimbledon for the first time in her career; the first time a British woman had entered Wimbledon on merit since 1999. She then fell in the first round of qualifying for the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, before reaching another $50k final in Surbiton. In the run up to Wimbledon, Keothavong lost in the first round of the Birmingham Classic to Kateryna Bondarenko and in the first round of the Rosmalen Open to Sara Errani. In her first-round match in Wimbledon, she faced Vania King and lost the first set. She regrouped during a toilet break at the end of the first set and came back to win the match in three sets despite being 2–0 down in the deciding set. She then lost to the eventual champion, Venus Williams, in the second round. After Wimbledon, Keothavong made a successful start to her American hardcourt season by winning three matches to qualify for the Tier II event in
Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...
. She then defeated
Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian former professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles ...
in the first round before giving
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles, 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title, after previously being runner-up in 2007 Wimbledo ...
a tough time in round two in a match which she eventually lost in three tight sets. In August, she entered the US Open for the first time in her career and faced Alexa Glatch in round one. She won the match and then went on to beat Francesca Schiavone in the second round in three sets. However No. 5 seed, Elena Dementieva, proved too much for Keothavong in the third round; Keothavong lost. After the US Open, Keothavong won two more ITF events:
Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...
($50k) and Kraków ($100k), and as a result, her year-end ranking was 61.


2009

Keothavong began her 2009 season by launching her official website before heading to
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
where she reached the semifinals. En route, she defeated Mirjana Lučić, No. 8 seed
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a best WTA doubles ranking of 11, o ...
and Ayumi Morita, before falling in a three-hour, three set battle to
Elena Vesnina Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles. Vesnina is a four-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, h ...
. This was only the second time in her career that she reached the semifinals of a WTA Tour event. Keothavong then competed in the Hobart International where she faced a tough draw in round one against world No. 25,
Ágnes Szávay Ágnes Szávay (, ; born 29 December 1988) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. The 2007 WTA Newcomer of the Year achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 13 in April 2008. Personal life Szávay was born in Kiskunhalas an ...
. Nevertheless, Keothavong came through without too much difficulty, beating Szávay in two sets. She lost to Virginie Razzano in the second round. Keothavong then headed to the main draw of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
for the first time in her career where she came up against
Anna Chakvetadze Anna Djambuliovna Chakvetadze ( ; born 5 March 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. In her career, Chakvetadze won eight WTA Tour singles titles. She reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 5 in September 2007, after r ...
, who was the 17th seed. She lost in a controversial match where a mistake by the umpire allowed Chakvetadze to serve first in the final set, an advantage which should have gone to Keothavong. Keothavong was the fourth seed in her next tournament, the Cellular South Cup, and she followed up on this seeding by reaching the semifinals of a WTA event for the second time in 2009. She defeated
Maria Elena Camerin Maria Elena Camerin (born 21 March 1982) is a former professional tennis player from Italy. In her career, Camerin won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as ten singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 11 October 2004 ...
,
Michelle Larcher de Brito Micaela Carolina Larcher de Brito (born 29 January 1993), known by the anglicized name Michelle Larcher de Brito, is a Portuguese former professional tennis player. She is the former Portuguese No. 1. Larcher de Brito won four singles titles on ...
and No. 5 seed Marina Erakovic on the way to being demolished by top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. Despite this crushing defeat, a semifinal run was enough to help Keothavong make the hop from world No. 52 to No. 48, her debut in the top 50. Keothavong then endured three consecutive first round defeats in the Indian Wells Open, the Miami Open (both Premier Mandatory tournaments) and a $100k tournament in Tourhout, Belgium, where she was forced to retire due to a viral illness. Following this, Keothavong began her
clay court A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis is played. Clay courts are built on a foundation of crushed stone, brick, shale, and other construction aggregate, aggregate, with a thin layer of fine clay particles ...
season by defeating Maret Ani to reach the second round of the Grand Prix in Fes, Morocco where she was defeated by Lourdes Domínguez Lino. This was followed by another first-round defeat in a Premier event in the Italian Open, this one at the hands of Carla Suárez Navarro. In the Madrid Open, she beat Mariana Duque Mariño in round one before losing to
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech professional tennis player who was ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles ...
in the second round. In her very next tournament, she reached the fourth WTA Tour semifinal of her career and her third in 2009 in the Warsaw Open. She faced No. 7 seed, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in round one, American veteran Jill Craybas in the second round, qualifier Raluca Olaru in the quarterfinals and was beaten by eighth seed
Alona Bondarenko Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok (; born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. Her sisters Valeria and Kateryna Bondarenko are also tennis players. Her career-high singles ranking is No. 19, achieved on 14 April 2008. Alo ...
. Nevertheless, in reaching the semifinals she became the first British woman to reach the semifinals of a tour clay-court event since
Jo Durie Joanna Mary Durie (born 27 July 1960) is a former world No. 5 tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she also reached No. 9 in doubles, and won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles with Jeremy Bates. Born in Bri ...
reached the semifinals of the
1983 French Open The 1983 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament ran from 23 May until 5 June. It was the 82nd staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Slam ...
, 26 years before. She then came up against reigning world No. 1,
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (, ; ; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 26 weeks, and world No. 8 in doubles. Safina ...
, in the first round of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
and endured the dreaded "double bagel" when she was defeated, 0–6, 0–6. Keothavong began her
grass court A grass court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis, originally known as "lawn tennis", is played. Grass courts are made of grasses in different compositions depending on the tournament. While grass courts are more tra ...
season on home turf with a victory over Sofia Arvidsson in the first round of the Birmingham Classic before losing to eventual semifinalist,
Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian former professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles ...
, in round two. She was then defeated in the first round of the
Eastbourne International The Eastbourne Open (also known as Eastbourne International, formerly Rothesay) is a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour and the ATP Tour held at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Eastbourne, United Kingdom. Held since 1974, it is classified as ...
by world No. 28,
Sybille Bammer Sybille Bammer (born 27 April 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Austria. Her career-high ranking is No. 19, which she achieved on 17 December 2007. She was one of three mothers on the WTA Tour, having taken time off at age 21 to ...
, but saw off a mugger in central London who tried to snatch her handbag before heading to
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, where she experienced a first-round loss to world No. 80, Patricia Mayr. After this, Keothavong played the Stanford Classic in California where she lost in the opening round of the singles to Elena Dementieva. Keothavong also played in the doubles with Ayumi Morita against
Julie Coin Julie Coin (; born 2 December 1982) is a retired French tennis player. Coin recorded the biggest win of her career by defeating the then- world No. 1 ranked Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 US Open. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 60, ...
and Marie-Ève Pelletier, trailing 4–6, 5–3 when she attempted to run down a
drop shot A drop shot is a shot in some racket sports in which the ball (or birdie) is hit relatively softly, sometimes with topspin or backspin, so that it lands just over and close to the net. A well-placed and well-timed drop shot will make it difficult ...
and, in trying to avoid a collision with the net post, suffered a serious knee injury, rupturing her left
anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...
and meniscus, a similar injury to the one she suffered in 2004 in her right knee. This injury ended Keothavong's year and as a result, her year-end ranking dropped to 84.


2010

After six months out of action due to her knee injury, Keothavong returned to competitive action in February
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
at the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
. She faced Patricia Mayr of
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in her first match back and was beaten in straight sets. She partnered Sarah Borwell to take on Mayr and Yvonne Meusburger in the doubles, and again lost in straight sets. However Keothavong did manage to claim victory in her other two singles ties against players from
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
and the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Keothavong then returned to the tour at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Michigan in the $100k event. She battled past Ivana Lisjak in three sets before only dropping two games in a drubbing of Daniilidou. She then faced Marta Domachowska and went down in three sets after she won the first. At the Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Keothavong reached the semifinals, on her return to the main tour. By defeating Kristina Barrois, Michelle Larcher de Brito, and Karolina Šprem in three impressive wins, all in straight sets. She then fell in three sets to Sofia Arvidsson in the semifinals, after battling back from a set down lost she lost the decider. Keothavong then competed in two Premier tournaments, the Indian Wells Open and Miami Open. Keothavong crashed out in round one in both tournaments, to Anna Chakvetadze in three sets, after winning the first to continue her losing record against her in Indian Wells. And under sad circumstances in Miami, as she lost in straight sets to
Tamira Paszek Tamira Shelah Paszek (born 6 December 1990) is an Austrian tennis player. On 11 February 2013, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 26. On 6 May 2013, she peaked at No. 93 in the doubles rankings. Paszek has won three single ...
and said afterwards "Frankly tennis didn’t seem that important today" after receiving news before the match that her grandmother had died. Less than a week after her loss in Miami, Keothavong bounced back in a $75k event in Monzón, Spain. She reached the quarterfinals after beating two Asian players, Yurika Sema in straight sets and
Tamarine Tanasugarn Tamarine Tanasugarn (, , ; born 24 May 1977) is a Thai former tennis player. Born in Los Angeles, she turned professional in 1994, and has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubles. Tanasugarn's career-high WTA ranking is No. 19, achiev ...
in three after losing a tight first set. She bowed out to Maria Elena Camerin, in straight sets. Keothavong then moved on to Torhout, Belgium for a $50k event. She made it to the semifinals after taking out Shapatava, Kristina Antoniychuk and Valérie Tétreault, in straight sets. In the semifinals, she faced another Canadian, Rebecca Marino, Keothavong lost. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, she was defeated in the first round by
Anastasia Rodionova Anastasia Ivanovna Rodionova (; born 12 May 1982) is a Russian-born Australian former professional tennis player. Rodionova has won 11 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as eight singles and 13 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 16 Au ...
. Keothavong entered the Luxembourg Open using a
protected ranking This page is a glossary of tennis terminology. A * Ace (tennis), Ace: Serve where the tennis ball lands inside the ''#service box, service box'' and is not touched by the receiver; thus, a shot that is both a serve and a winner is an ace. Aces a ...
and reached the semifinals after beating Virginie Razzano, Patty Schnyder and Iveta Benešová but was beaten by Roberta Vinci, preventing Keothavong from making her first WTA Tour final. This year, Keothavong and Laura Robson, as members of Team Aegon, received the equivalent of £48k to provide them with personal coaches plus a £12k travel budget.


2011

At the beginning of the year in Australia, Keothavong reached the second round of the Auckland Open losing to Kateryna Bondarenko, and the second round of the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, where she qualified, losing to 30th seed Andrea Petkovic in three sets. Keothavong then played several ITF Circuit events with limited success. She then entered the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
where she lost a closely fought match in the first round to Vesna Dolonc. She then moved onto grass in her home country and won a round at the $100k event in Nottingham, before losing to Stéphanie Dubois. At
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...
, Keothavong entered the qualifying round, defeating eighth seed
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. She has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circuit. ...
and
Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-best ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...
before losing in the final round to Mirjana Lučić. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...
, Keothavong defeated fellow Brit
Naomi Broady Naomi Broady ( ; born 28 February 1990) is a British former tennis player. She won one WTA Tour doubles title, as well as nine singles titles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 March 2016, she reached her best singles ranki ...
in the first round before losing in the second round to No. 8 seed and eventual champion,
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová (; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 31 career singles titles, including two Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles ...
. Keothavong had little success during the US Open Series, but the majority of her successes for 2011 came during the European hardcourt series towards the end of the year. Keothavong qualified and reached the second round of the Ladies Linz, losing a close match to third seed Jelena Janković. Keothavong then qualified again and this time reached the semifinals of the Luxembourg Open, defeating
Ana Ivanovic Ana Schweinsteiger (name at birth, née Ivanovic; born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tenn ...
in straight sets along the way before losing a close match to Monica Niculescu. Keothavong then won back-to-back ITF events. She won the $75k event in Barnstaple, defeating Marta Domachowska in the final, and she also won the doubles event with Eva Birnerová. She then won the singles title in the $50k event in Ismaning, defeating Yvonne Meusburger in the final and again winning the doubles title as well, this time with Kiki Bertens.


2012

Keothavong played her first event of the 2012 season at the Auckland Open where she was the top-seed in the qualifying tournament. She defeated Australian wildcard Emily Fanning in the first round, and followed this with a victory over Varvara Lepchenko. In the third round Keothavong lost to Jamie Hampton. Keothavong went straight into the main draw at the
Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, but had to retire due to illness from her first-round match, after losing the first set to
Mona Barthel Mona Barthel (born 11 July 1990) is a German tennis player. On 18 March 2013, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 23. On 14 September 2015, she peaked at No. 63 in the doubles rankings. Barthel has won four singles and three double ...
. Keothavong was selected for the British Fed Cup team to play in the Europe/Africa Group 1 match at Eilat, Israel on 1–4 February 2012. In the group stages she played singles, defeating opponents from Portugal, and Israel in the group stages but losing to the Netherlands. The team qualified for a play-off against Austria in which Keothavong beat Patricia Mayr-Achleitner and Great Britain won 2–0 to secure a place in the World Group II play-off to be held in April 2012. Keothavong lost in straight sets to Melinda Czink in the first round of the
French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. In Wimbledon, Keothavong lost her second-round match against Sara Errani, 1–6, 1–6. At the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, she was knocked out in the first round by Caroline Wozniaki, and she and team-mate Elena Baltacha were also knocked out in the first round of the women's doubles.


2013

Keothavong made a disappointing start to 2013, losing in the first round qualifier in the Australian Open to
Grace Min Grace Min (born May 6, 1994) is an American tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 97, achieved on 2 March 2015, and she peaked at No. 308 in the doubles rankings, on 17 September 2012. Min won the 2011 US Open girls ...
. Despite this, she was still named in the Fed Cup team alongside Laura Robson,
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships – Mixed doubles, 2016 ...
and
Johanna Konta Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British-Australian former professional tennis player. Konta won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, along with eleven titles in singles and four in doubles on the ITF Women's Circuit. She was British No. ...
to face Portugal, Hungary and Bosnia. Keothavong reached her first WTA Tour final with doubles partner Valeria Savinykh, surprisingly reaching the doubles final of the Brasil Tennis Cup. They were, however, beaten by top seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Yaroslava Shvedova. She played her final match of her career at the Wimbledon Championships, losing in the first round to teenager
Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Venezuelan-born Spanish former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Asso ...
, in straight sets. On 24 July 2013, she announced her retirement from professional tour.


After retirement

In December 2016, Keothavong was selected as the new captain for the Great Britain Fed Cup team, replacing Judy Murray. She was involved in controversy in 2017 when
Ilie Năstase Ilie Theodoriu Năstase (; born 19 July 1946) is a Romanian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the inaugural world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 40 weeks. Năstase is one of ten play ...
, captain of the
Romania Fed Cup team The Romania Billie Jean King Cup team represents Romania in Billie Jean King Cup tennis competition. It is governed by the Federația Română de Tenis and currently competes in the Fed Cup#Current structure, World Group I, the highest level of t ...
, used obscene language towards her and the British team during a match. At the pre-match dinner the day before, Nastase asked for Keothavong's room number. In October 2020, she was nominated to the board of the All England Club. Keothavong was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) in the
2021 New Year Honours The 2021 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
for services to tennis.


Playing style

Keothavong's greatest strength is her powerful forehand which she uses to try to dominate play from the baseline and she adds as much
topspin In ball sports, topspin or overspin is a property of a ball that rotates forwards as it is moving. Topspin on a ball propelled through the air imparts a downward force that causes the ball to drop, due to its interaction with the air (Magnus ef ...
as possible to increase the probability of the ball landing in court. As well as her forehand, she can rely on her first- serve to get her some easy points as she often has a high first-serve percentage and usually wins the majority of points on her first-serve. She rarely has a match where she serves no
aces An ace is a playing card. Ace(s), ACE(S) and variants may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Awards * ACE Awards (Award for Cable Excellence) Comics * ''Ace Comics'', a 1937-1959 comic book series * Ace Magazines (comics), a 1940- ...
at all, and in her second round match at the 2008 US Open she served a total of seven aces.


WTA Tour finals


Doubles: 1 (runner-up)


ITF Circuit finals


Singles: 30 (20–10)


Doubles: 11 (8–3)


Performance timelines


Singles


Doubles


Mixed doubles


Fed Cup participation


Head-to-head record


Record against top 10 players


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keothavong, Anne 1983 births Living people British people of Laotian descent People from Hackney Central Tennis players from the London Borough of Hackney Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic tennis players for Great Britain English female tennis players British female tennis players British tennis coaches Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century English sportswomen