The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Keothavong hangs up racket
ANNE KEOTHAVONG is confident she is leaving British women’s tennis in a healthy state after announcing her retirement yesterday.
The 29-year-old, who reached a careerhigh ranking of 48 four years ago, is joining BT Sport as part of their team to cover the WTATour.
Keothavong said: “I have given my decision a lot of thought and I believe this is the right time to move on to the next stage of my career.
“I have had some magical moments along the way and I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support and encouragement, the LTA for their fantastic backing, my coach Jeremy Bates and also (former head of women’s tennis) Nigel Sears, who have both been very influential in my tennis career, and, of course, the great tennis fans in Britain and all over the world.
“I think I am leaving tennis in excellent shape with both Laura Robson and Heather Watson leading the way for Britain in the women’s game.”
Keothavong and Elena Baltacha set the standard for current British number one Robson andWatson to follow.
When Keothavong broke into the top 50 early in 2009 she was the first British woman to reach the milestone for 16 years.
The Londoner, who also made five WTA singles semi-finals, was hampered by two serious knee injuries, the latter of which cruelly halted her progress in 2009.
Keothavong bounced back well, returning to the top 100, but she has endured a miserable season in 2013, with her ranking slumping to 285.
Her last match was a seventh successive defeat, to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza at Wimbledon, which at least saw her bow out on Centre Court.
Keothavong, who earned approximately £850,000 in prize money during her 14-year career, achieved her best grand slam result by reaching the third round at the US Open in 2008 and four times made the second round atWimbledon.