Keothavong was the first British woman in the top 50 since 1993

British number one Anne Keothavong got back to winning ways with victory over Estonia's Maret Ani in Morocco.

The Londoner, 25, won 6-2 7-6 (7-3) in round one of the clay-court Grand Prix S.A.R La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fes.

Keothavong recently slipped out of the world's top 50, to 54, after failing to manage a win in her last three events, including Miami and Indian Wells.

Her previous singles victory came against Marina Erakovic in the Memphis quarter-finals on 19 February.

Keothavong eased through the opening set against Ani with two breaks of serve, but was then broken four times on her way to slipping 5-2 down in the second.

The Briton recovered well, however, to force a tie-break and, after dropping the first three points, stormed back with seven in a row to seal a much-needed win.

"I'm pretty happy with the way I played overall considering it was my first match on clay for a while," Keothavong told her website.

"The first set was almost faultless from me and I stayed calm despite going 5-2 down in the second and just rallied my way back."

Keothavong goes on to face Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino , who upset Romanian fifth seed Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-4. World number 18 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain is the top seed.

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