Anne Keothavong's Blog by Anne_Keothavong

The past few weeks have been really positive for me and I’ve played some of my best tennis this year. I qualified and reached the semi-finals of the WTA event in Luxembourg beating former world number one Ana Ivanovic along the way and last week I won the Singles and Doubles titles at the Barnstaple Open. In Luxembourg, I was almost down and out in my first round qualifying match. I was so sluggish and irritable in that match and was feeling tired after a grind of a journey from Linz the previous day. But it’s funny how some things can turn around though. I knew my tennis was there as I had played well in Linz and I got better with each match after that. I had to win three matches in qualifying to get my spot in the main draw which featured a pretty strong field including Victoria Azarenka as it was one of the last tournaments of the year.

It was in the second round where I faced Ana Ivanovic and I felt a little awkward about playing that match. Nigel Sears who was Head of Woman’s tennis in Britain and former Fed Cup Captain until Wimbledon this year, is now coach to Ana. I’ve known Nigel since I was a teenager and over the past four years he’s helped me incredibly with my tennis and I still have a very good relationship with him. Nigel is like family to me and we have a huge amount of respect for each other, so it was a little weird for me seeing him in my opposition’s corner. I think it was weird for him too, because I know he still wants to see me do well. I’ve got to admit though, I was extra pumped to play well against Ana - and I did!

Unfortunately my run in Luxembourg came to an end in the semi-finals against Monica Niculescu. She’s one of the craftiest players on tour and we were out there battling for over three hours. My whole family had driven overnight from London to watch me play that day which was really sweet of them and they were cheering me on, but it wasn’t to be. After the match, I found out that there wasn’t a direct flight back to London until the following afternoon, so instead of hanging around, I decided to go back with my family in the people carrier. It was a pretty tight squeeze for such a long journey but I got home earlier than expected and they had less than twelve hours in Luxembourg! So much for their weekend away!

There was no time to rest though because as soon as I got home there was un-packing, laundry and re-packing to do as I had to drive to Barnstaple in North Devon the following day for another tournament. I was full of confidence going in to this tournament and I had some good memories as I won the tournament in 2008. I also had some bad memories from last year as I was racially abused by some local idiots there too. Anyway, I’m pleased to say I won the singles event without dropping a set and I teamed up with Eva Birnerova from the Czech Republic to win the doubles. I must add the support I had during the week in all my matches was great.

It was extra special for me to win there as the last time I won a singles event was there in 2008 and I went on to break the World’s Top 50 soon after. Obviously my knee surgery in 2009 put me back but I’m feeling so much more confident now about everything, which is good. After the finals in Barnstaple, I had to drive back to London, unpack then re-pack as I had a flight to Munich first thing the following morning. To say I was tired is an understatement and since I arrived at my destination here in Germany, I’ve spent most of my time in bed. I’ve had a high temperature and my head’s been throbbing. It’s my last tournament of the year here and I still want to give it a go. I’ve perked up a little bit though and I’m relying on my experience and all the matches I’ve played recently to help get me through. It’s one last big effort before I can have some time off to relax. Wish me luck!

How much tape do you think you often see on tennis players or other athletes? Do you ever wonder why they bother or what it actually does? Most of the time it’s preventative taping and there are lots of different ways to strap different body parts depending on the problem. Before most matches and training sessions, I tape up different areas of my feet and toes to prevent blisters and chaffing. As it’s now the indoor season, I don’t have to tape my feet up as much as I do as when I’m playing outdoors in hot and humid conditions, but it’s still part of my routine. Last week I was competing in Linz and had a slight stomach strain so there was an unloading technique used to help support the area with different types of tape.

Taping an area of your body doesn’t solve the problem, but it can sometimes help support the area and allow you to go out and compete. A lot of the time you won’t see what taping a tennis player has on underneath their clothing. I remember seeing Roger Federer’s physio tape him before his match at Wimbledon one year and he had both his ankles heavily taped and both his thighs. But you would never have known or seen it. Most tennis players have their wrists taped too, but you don’t see that underneath the wristbands. I’m in Luxembourg now and I’m writing about taping as I’m waiting in line to see the tournament physios. I don’t have the luxury of travelling with my own personal physio, so I rely on the tournament physios provided by the WTA.

There are always a minimum of two physios and a massage therapist at WTA tournaments and as it’s coming towards the end of the season, they’re even busier than usual. The waiting time is on average about an hour and a half to see someone. Because of the long waits and everyone not wanting to lose their place in the queue, the training room becomes the hang out area for all the players. Everyone will know about the other person’s aches and pains, but it’s not something you think about when you go out on the court. There’s a mutual understanding that every player will be playing in a bit of discomfort but you just get on with it. I personally believe a very good massage therapist is more valuable than a very good physio.

Most of my aches and pains are treated with deep tissue work. There’s nothing better than someone using their elbows to get in to your glutes properly, or someone using their forearms to strip your IT band - it’s painful at the time but you feel so much better after! One of my worst nightmares is going for one of those aroma therapy massages at a spa where they just rub oil or moisturiser in to you without putting any oomph into it!

Anyway, I’ve been playing better tennis recently and have had a lot of matches over the past few weeks which is good. Last week in Linz I played a pretty good match against former world number one, Jelena Jankovic. I lost in three sets but the fact that I was outplaying her for a set gave me confidence - I just have to be able to sustain that kind of level and not get too excited. Here in Luxembourg, I’ve already won three matches to qualify in to the main draw and I play the local favourite tonight, Mandy Minella. She’ll have all the home support but that’s ok because I’ll just be focusing on myself. Wish me luck!

This week, I’m going to give all of you a chance to have a giggle at my expense. Every time I go through immigration or passport security at airports I get a funny look. I’ve been questioned on more than a few occasions about whether the person in the picture is really me and I’ve had people just laugh in my face. I am the owner of one of the worst passport pictures ever but I don’t care! I was in such a rush at the time when I was renewing my passport and didn’t really think about the fact that the picture would be with me for the next ten years! And frankly I just wanted to get it done as soon as possible. I kept my scarf on and was feeling pretty rough, so it didn’t cross my mind I would look like I had no neck!

My passport has been all over the world with me and it’s given plenty of people a chance to laugh, so that must be a good thing, right?! The photo on my driver’s license isn’t much better either. It’s a pretty good mug shot in fact. I renewed it just before Christmas and again I was in a bit of a rush. When I handed my photo over to the guy at the DVLA desk, he laughed and looked at me and asked if I was sure I didn’t want to take another picture! What a way to make a girl feel good about herself! Anyway, laughs aside let me tell you what I’ve been up to. Apart from the competing which is all year round for us tennis pros, I was asked to open the newly resurfaced park courts at Hackney Downs. I grew up around the corner from these tennis courts and spent hours playing there with my brother and sister when we were kids.

I fell over God knows how many times on those courts as there used to be so much moss on them and my knees are covered with scars from all the tumbles. Mind you, my coach did recently tell me that I have the ability to look really uncoordinated at times on the tennis court, so maybe it was just my clumsiness and not the courts! Two more courts were added to the three already there, all are painted green and blue and two of the courts have floodlights - they look so much better than the grey courts I remember. It brought back so many memories and I even felt a little emotional about it as I hadn’t been to the area for years. The thing I was most happy to hear about, was that the courts are always busy and that there were more organised squads for kids to take part in.

Tennis has given me so many opportunities and I really hope it can for other kids in the area too. On another note, I sometimes feel selfish and guilty for the life I have and I’ve been looking in to things to do to help others who don’t have quite the same chances in life as I do. Once a week there is a group of Down’s Syndrome kids who come to the National Tennis Centre to play tennis in the evenings and I now help out whenever I’m around and play tennis with them. They are all so inspiring to me and it’s great fun as well as incredibly heart-warming and rewarding. I think we can always do more than we think we can to help others, don’t you agree?

Hello! The US Open feels like it was ages ago now and I’ve had some time to recover and regroup after a very, very long summer. Two months on the road felt like an eternity! The result wasn’t what I wanted but it’s gone now and I’ve put it to the back of my mind. Since then, I’ve had some time at home - well two weeks actually and that felt like a luxury. During that time, I had a verruca frozen off on my foot and had another scan on my left knee, in between training sessions. Verrucas are common amongst people of all ages, especially if you’ve walked about in changing rooms at sports centres, but it’s not something anyone likes to talk about funnily enough! My verruca had been there for ages and I’d been told not to do anything about it because it wasn’t painful. But since I decided to not use my orthotics anymore, it became increasingly sore as there was less padding in my shoes.

Getting it frozen off wasn’t as painful as I thought it was going to be and I had a bit of a hole in my foot and a lovely blood blister as a result. Nice! Orthotics. To wear or not to wear? I only started using orthotics in my shoes two and a half years ago to help with the plantar fascia pain I was getting. It helped, but the orthotics would only last for two months at a time. I tried lots of different ones too, trust me! Also, because of the material of my tennis shoes, they would sometimes slip about too much which I found even more annoying. So, since the US Open, I decided enough was enough and I got rid of them. My knee and hip problems are there whether I wear orthotics or not and since I’m always sore, it doesn’t matter now if my feet are too. I’ve just got to suck it up and get on with it!

Now time for my knee. I think most active people have had some form of pain in their knees and I feel like I could be a specialist in diagnosing problems after all the issues I’ve had with my knees. Although I feel my knees and legs are stronger after ACL surgery because of all the rehab I did, the mechanics will never be the same. My left leg is my landing leg on my serve and there’s a lot of repetition involved in tennis, so my whole left side has taken a bit of a pounding over the years. Since coming back last year, my knee still flares up and I have problems with the fat pad.

I went for a scan to make sure there wasn’t anything else wrong and there wasn’t, so it’s just the same process. Rest, physio and more strengthening exercises. After a few days of this, I’m always better enough to get back out on the court, but it is frustrating. An injection to the knee could help but it won’t make the problem go away. Despite all the aches and pains though, I’m still prepared to put my body through it all and push myself further. It’s a challenge but nothing is ever straightforward, is it?