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!