Anne Keothavong's Blog by Anne_Keothavong

In just over a week, Wimbledon will be kicking off and I hope to be going in to it in a positive frame of mind. This week, I’ve been in Nottingham and once again I’ve been disappointed by my performances. I played a great match in the opening round and started off well in my second round match, only to completely collapse and fire balls everywhere but inside the lines! Everyone around me keeps reminding me to stay upbeat and enjoy it, but it becomes harder when you can’t do what you know you’ve been capable of in the past. It’s not much fun losing week in, week out and putting yourself through the mill.

I’ve been playing professionally for the past ten years and have had to deal with a lot of injuries along the way and all the niggles take their toll too. So how do you deal with a confidence crisis? That is the BIG question... I’m trying not to dwell on it too much and on the practice court, I feel a million dollars. Patience? Perseverance? Laugh more? I’m doing it all. Got any other words of wisdom?? Okay, I need to stop talking about my tennis for the fear of sounding too negative! It’s not all doom and gloom, but I am at the stage where I feel I need to reassess and ask myself a few questions.

Na Li was the first Chinese woman to win a Grand Slam last week in Paris and I was delighted for her. I was in the studio with Sue Barker to cover the final and it’s always something I enjoy to do away from the tennis court. The French Open Women’s Final attracted the highest viewing figures around the world this year for a sporting event - 116 million viewers according to CCTV which is amazing. The Asian market is huge and Na Li is already a superstar who’s just going to get even bigger. She’s a great role model for young girls and very popular amongst her peers for her humour. I’m sure she’ll inspire more girls to take up the game.

Anyway, I’m still in the doubles event here in Nottingham with Laura Robson. It’s been good fun and we’ve got a few silly jokes going between us which keeps us relaxed on court and fuels the inner child in me. We’ll be partnering up at Wimbledon this year too, so it’s all good preparation. I’m off to work on my double clap and drop now. An explanation for that will be given in my next blog!