Keothavong delighted with battling AEGON Classic win at Edgbaston
Jun 10 2010 Tennis
Anne Keothavong welcomed her improvement as she battled past Pauline Parmentier in the AEGON Classic in Birmingham on Wednesday- but there was misery for British number one Elena Baltacha.
Keothavong was given a major test by France's Pauline Parmentier before coming through 4-6 7-5 7-5. The Londoner was a break down in the deciding set but pulled through and was scheduled to meet top seed Li Na.
"It was a tough match but I'm glad I got through in the end," said Keothavong. "I just had to hang in there. My first-serve percentage wasn't where I'd like it to be and she had her chances but I toughed it out in the end.
"My level picked up in the final set. I changed it up and once I got a feel for the courts I got better."
Baltacha continued her good form in 2010 by winning the ITF title in Nottingham last week but it came at a cost as she was laid low by heatstroke.
The Scot admitted earlier in the week she was struggling to recover and she called it a day after losing the first set 6-1 to Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.
The sixth and the eighth seeds both exited the tournament at the second-round stage.
Yaroslava Shvedova, a quarter-finalist at the French Open, lost 6-4 6-4 to qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva while Anna Chakvetadze knocked out Andrea Petkovic by the same scoreline.
There were few problems for number five seed Sara Errani, who beat Shenay Perry 6-2 4-6 6-1, while Magdalena Rybarikova, Angelique Kerber and Alla Kudryavtseva all reached round three.
Second seed Maria Sharapova won the first four games against Bethanie Mattek-Sands before the rain came, while Aravane Rezai was an early break up on Anastasia Rodionova at 2-0.
The favourites were struggling elsewhere, though, with seventh seed Olga Govortsova losing the first set 6-1 to Portuguese teen Michelle Larcher de Brito - although the Belarusian was 3-1 up in the second.
India's Sania Mirza won the first set 6-4 against 14th seed Tamarine Tanasugarn, while American qualifier Alison Riske was 4-2 up against ninth seed Aleksandra Wozniak.
