For the fist time since 1992 three British women were in the main draw at the French Open, but all three got knocked out in the first round in a disappointing day for women’s tennis.
British number one Anne Keothavong had a tough draw against world number one Dinara Safina, so it was no great surprise when she was beaten 6-0 6-0. It took the 23 year old Russian just 61 minutes to demolish the Brit.
“I’m not going to walk out of here and slit my wrists or anything,” said 25-year-old Keothavong who was simply outclassed. “Overall I can be pleased with my clay court season. I had a great week in Warsaw last week when I reached the semi-finals of a tour event.
“This week I couldn’t have asked for a tougher draw than Dinara. She is the number one player in the world and the in-form clay court player of the season.
“I can’t remember anything like that happening to me before but in the end you just have to find ways to laugh about it. What else is there to do? I’m sure there will be a few jokes about it but I can take it.”
British number three Mel South, who was making her debut at Roland Garros, came the closest of all the Brits to progressing to the next round when she was serving for the match but eventually lost 0-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 to Michelle Larcher De Brito.
South started with far more purpose than her Portugese opponent, racing through the first set and pushing Larcher de Brito hard in the second. From being firmly in South’s favour early on, the contest became far more unpredictable and contained 16 breaks of serve, including one at 5-4 in the second set with South served for the match.
Speaking after the match South said; “I started really well. I knew like in the couple of her matches in the qualifying as well she lost a couple of easy sets. She doesn’t let it phase her. She’s always fights. As I said before, she’s a huge competitor, so I knew that she would still be in the match. She managed to turn it around and play a lot better.”
Meanwhile British number two Katie O’Brien failed to capitalise on her opportunity to play at Roland Garros as a Lucky Loser lost in straight sets to Olga Govortsova, 1-6 1-6.
Speaking after the match O’Brien still found plenty of positives to take from her week in Paris. “Things are much better than last year. There was no one in main draw. We all have much higher expectations now, and it’s disappointing for us to lose at this stage when we could have given a better account of ourselves.
“But, I mean, it’s good that we actually believe that we belong here. For me personally, I’ve had a good year so far. I’ve get plenty to build on and I’ve really not got many points to defend for the rest of the year. I’m looking forward to the grass court season.”
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
