• Wimbledon, Day Two

Keothavong loss continues run of British defeats

Anne Keothavong followed Elena Baltacha out © Getty Images

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Women's round-up

Anne Keothavong threw away a 4-0 final-set lead as she continued the run of defeats for British women by losing to Anastasia Rodionova.

After four Brits exited the tournament on Monday Keothavong, alongside Heather Watson, was left to carry the flag forward for the women's game.

She was unable to fare any better however, slumping to a 3-6 6-2 6-4 defeat. "Nerves got the better of me to be honest," she said. "I fought my heart out out there but she held her nerve better than I did."

In the build up to competition, Keothavong bemoaned the level of pressure that is placed on British players when Grand Slam action arrives in England. "I'm so desperate to do well even though grass is my weakest surface," she told the Times. "You do feel you've let people down."

Pressure or not, this was a match that Keothavong had marked down as winnable - despite Rodionova being 81 places ahead of her in the world rankings. The Australian has a habit of looking uncomfortable on grass, and has progressed past the opening round at Wimbledon once in her career to date.

Keothavong raced out of the traps in the early stages of the first set, looking anything but constrained by the expectation heaped on her shoulders as she hared into a 2-0 lead. Although she was having difficulties on serve, Keothavong was returning with venom and sealed three breaks en route to taking the first set.

Her service troubles turned into a crisis during the second set, as her game wobbled with the finish line in sight. Keothavong did not win a single point on her second delivery as Rodionova began to grow into the match, forcing a final set by stepping in from the baseline and unfurling some heavy forehands.

The match was following an ominously similar pattern to Baltacha's first day efforts - the British No. 1 had claimed the first set before her game slowly unravelled as she exited the tournament. Keothavong appeared to have avoided falling into that trap as she took a comfortable lead in the third, but she did not have the variation in her game to halt Rodionova's late charge.

Heather Watson continued the disappointing form of the British women, as she slipped to a three-set defeat to Romeo Oprandi of Italy.

Watson battled back from losing the first set to take the second set for the loss of just one game and looked in charge at that point, but the teenager failed to gain a foothold in the final set and was eventually beaten 6-4 1-6 6-3.

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