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Keothavong eyes Olympic boost

Anne Keothavong is desperate to make her first Olympic appearance © Getty Images

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Anne Keothavong has targeted a move up the rankings next season in order to secure automatic qualification for London 2012.

The British No. 2, currently ranked at No. 73 in the world, is eyeing a return to the top 60 in order to avoid the qualifying rounds to compete at next summer's Olympics.

Keothavong, who grew up just a few miles from the Stratford Olympic Park, narrowly missed out on the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and is desperate to secure her spot.

"I'm planning to be around the 60 mark in the rankings by the summer, which would pretty much guarantee qualification," Keothavong told the Daily Telegraph. "I'd love to be part of that whole thing. I take a lot of pride in representing Great Britain.

"The Fed Cup is one of the highlights for the year for me, but playing in the Olympics on top of that would be even bigger. I've been involved in all the grand slams and the big tournaments - it's just the Olympics left."

Keothavong is also hoping to make the most of the current publicity surrounding British women's tennis following the appointment of Judy Murray as Fed Cup captain. With three British players in the top 100 (Elena Baltacha, Keothavong and Heather Watson), the strength of the women's game is greater than the men, with Andy Murray the sole Brit in the top 100.

"It would be nice for all of us to have the recognition we deserve," Keothavong said. "British women's tennis deserves more attention. We have been improving over the last few years, and after the controversy over the BBC Sports Personality award, hopefully women's sport in general will receive more publicity. There are plenty of women out there who are doing good things in sport and it should be noted."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.