Anne Keothavong blog: Beating Schiavone
Anne Keothavong
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I’m through to the third round of the US Open and I’m so happy right now! The highs and lows of tennis can be quite something and I’m definitely on a high right now. Beating Francesca Schiavone in two-and-a-half hours was tough, scrappy at times and very accurate at other times. Fortunately, today I was more accurate than her.
Keothavong V Schiavone photo gallery
I always get nervous before every match and today was no different. I think I like to get myself nervous to get myself going and feel some adrenaline – that may sound a bit weird but it’s true.
Next is Dementieva. She’s the Olympic gold medallist so must be feeling pretty good at the moment – but then so am I!
I thought I got off to a really good start in the first set and was pretty aggressive. She was shanking quite a bit to start off with but I was told that’s how she is sometimes and I just tried to focus on what I was doing.
We had an epic game at 5-2 but I finally managed to win it on my sixth or seventh set point after I changed my racket at the final deuce. It’s so humid here and I was sweating so much, but I obviously couldn’t change my grip during a game so a change of racket it was – god knows why I hadn’t done it earlier!
The start of the second set was a different story. I played a few loose points and lost my intensity a bit then found myself 4-0 down in a flash. She took a lengthy toilet break at 4-1 but I didn’t allow it to affect my focus and kept myself loose by stretching and practising my serve. Still, I ended up losing that set 6-3.
The third set was going on serve until she broke me to go 3-2 up and my racket went flying out of my hand at that point! It’s not something I do very often but I do get frustrated at at times – but it only fires me up even more to win.
At 4-2 down in the final set I never stopped believing in myself, I always felt it was a match I could win and I felt I stepped up to the challenge by going for it more to win the next four games.
She double-faulted on match point but I had a feeling at the time that she might. I’d been stepping in and attacking her second serve well throughout the match and I think she definitely felt the pressure there.
Next up is Elena Dementieva. She’s the Olympic gold medallist so must be feeling pretty good at the moment – but then so am I! I can’t wait to get on court against her, I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m feeling confident and I’m in good shape so I’ll give it my all.
I’m not sure whether that match will be on Friday or Saturday but before that I’ll have to play my doubles with Anastasia Pavlychenkova. We play Mara Santangelo and Lucie Safarova which will be tough but my partner really smacks it so between us I’m sure we have a good shot at winning!
I’ve been told that by reaching the third round of a slam I’ve generated a bit more publicity in women’s tennis back home. That’s nice to hear and I’m glad it’s positive stuff as we usually get more of the opposite!
Apparently Jo Durie was the last British woman to do that here in New York back in 1991 – hopefully we won’t have to wait another 17 years before someone does it again!
I would write more but I’m so tired as it’s been a long day and I want to get an ice-cream before I go to bed! And talking of food… in my next blog I’ll tell you more about one of my superstitions and the French restaurant I have to eat at every night with my coaches Claire Curran and Nigel Sears!
Until then…
Anne
Fans' Comments
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englishmaninnewyork Aug 28, 07:08 AM
what flavour ice cream anne?!
Mark Aug 28, 07:54 AM
I’ve been a fan of women’s tennis for so many years and it is so nice to have a Top 100 Brit girl to cheer on at last! Congrats Anne on reaching the US Open third round… but why stop there!
Steve Aug 28, 08:23 AM
Congrats Anne, your a legend! Keep fighting.
Sandra Aug 28, 09:02 AM
Well done Anne – you do us Brits proud!! Love reading your blogs and glad to see you finally showing your immense talent! Good luck against Dementieva! Be aggressive on her serves!!
Jake Aug 28, 03:19 PM
Congrats Anne, I’ve been following your results for a while now and this win was a long time coming.
BiB Aug 28, 04:43 PM
So pleased for you and wishing you every success against Elena and in the doubles too.
Marky Mark Aug 28, 11:37 PM
Anne, so proud of you, you’re the unsung heroine of british tennis, but I hope you stay on til 2012, I’l be cheering you on!
stephen Aug 29, 12:28 AM
Well done Anne. Wishing you an Olympic performance against Elena.
michael truong Aug 29, 04:35 AM
Congrats, Anne…I’m from Vietnam…hope you will make more Asian girls enjoy playing tennis and become a champion…good luck !!!
Marco Aug 29, 07:43 PM
Well done for beating Schiavone, you are doing really well and even if you were knocked out by Dementieva it’s good to see that you always fight and believe in yourself. You have a new fan from Italy!
Roderick Aug 29, 08:07 PM
Fantastic Anne. The next time try and raise the bar to the fourth round or beyond. Success in the future…you’ve got one.
THEE Aug 30, 08:29 PM
Anne, U did great accomplishment ! Just wanted to say I’m proud of you ! Keep up the good work !
Sincerely,
THEE
TH
alan swinney Sep 4, 04:16 AM
anne can you tell me about your Lao origens.please.?
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