 South (right) is close to joining Keothavong in the world's top 100 |
British pair Anne Keothavong and Melanie South both made it through to the second round of their respective Australian Open warm-up events. Keothavong, celebrating a career-high world ranking of 53, shocked fifth seed Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-3 7-5 at the Hobart International. Qualifier South played two games against Marion Bartoli in Sydney before the Frenchwoman pulled out. South goes on to face Denmark's eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki. Victory would put the 22-year-old Briton - currently ranked 110th - on the verge of joining Keothavong in the world's top 100. She has already booked her place in the main draw of the Australian Open by right.  | 606: DEBATE |
Keothavong, who reached the semi-finals in Auckland last week, continued her superb form as she knocked out world number 25 Szavay in Hobart. "I think it's one of my best wins to date and I was pleased with my performance," Keothavong told her website. "There's always a sea breeze in the afternoons here in Hobart and today it was pretty blustery but I think I handled it better than she did." The 25-year-old meets unseeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano in the second round. The Sydney tournament lost three players on Monday because of injury or illness. Bartoli pulled out of her match with South complaining of a calf injury, while Vera Zvonareva (gastroenteritis) and Victoria Azarenka (virus) also fell by the wayside. Seventh seed Nadia Petrova made an early exit, losing 6-2 6-4 to Alize Cornet of France at Sydney's Olympic tennis centre. But fellow Russians Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva both went through.
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