Venus shoots down British hopes

For more than an hour Anne Keothavong played beyond her limits and expectations against defending champion Venus Williams before reality dawned and Williams reached the third round 7-5, 6-2 to end British interest in the women's singles.

The match time alone, 104 minutes, was one indication of how hard Keothavong had fought to keep her cause alive. But after a 69-minute first set, Williams needed just half that time to win the second and shake off the challenge of the 92nd ranked player in the world.

Keothavong, along with all the British players, carries the extra burden of having to raise their playing levels at The Championships and from the start she showed she was capable of doing that.

The critical passage of the match proved to be the first five games. Keothavong was in instant trouble when she fell 2-0 behind but her reaction to the early setback was dramatic.

She took the Williams serve in the third game when a second double fault at deuce gave her chance to clinch the break. The 24-year-old then held serve in a seven-deuce game, saving four break points, to draw level.

In the next game Williams showed some fighting qualities of her own, saving an incredible eight break points before finally holding serve.

But despite the closeness of the score, it was Williams who was setting the pace, mainly losing points through her own unforced errors. Hitting winners for Keothavong was proving more demanding against a player with greater pace and variety of shot.

Keothavong held on until the 12th game when at 6-5 down two backhand errors gifted Williams the first set after 69 minutes.

The four-time champion, seventh seed to retain her title, played with growing confidence in the second set, taking the Keothavong serve in the fourth game and again in the eighth. A double fault in that game by Keothavong gave Williams match point and the contest ended with a forehand error by the British girl.

Williams will meet Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who beat India's Sania Mirza 9-7 in the third set, in the next round.

As for Keothavong, this has been her eighth consecutive appearance at Wimbledon and only the second time she has made it to the second round. The 24-year-old is the first British woman for nine years to have got into the tournament on merit and on the evidence of this performance she will believe there is better to come.