Wimbledon 2009: Anne Keothavong’s tournament ends with a whimper

Before one British No 1 had even made it on to court, the other was heading for the exit. While Andy Murray prepared to make his first appearance on Centre Court, Anne Keothavong made her first and last appearance in this year’s singles, losing in straight sets to the Austrian Patricia Mayr on Court No 4.

Mayr, the world No 80, played respectably well, but Keothavong, world-ranked No 51 and by far the best British female player of the decade, really did a comprehensive job of beating herself with a catalogue of errors.

It was a fundamental error on the part of the Order of Play committee to exile the British No 1 to the most feeble of semi-show courts while treating the likes of the obscure Juan-Martin del Potro to a spot on No1.

The lack of atmosphere on No 4, which is bounded on both sides by walkways, did little to bolster Keothavong’s obviously fragile confidence, and the ceaseless attempts by security staff to move spectators from the adjacent stairways did little for the enjoyment of the rest of the crowd. A poor show.

And a truly poor show from the 25-year-old Londoner who, sad to relate, let herself and her fans down. Mayr, a stocky blonde, is nothing special, but she stuck to her guns and retained her concentration as her opponent disintegrated in front of her and went down with all guns misfiring.

The first set was a horror show: one of those matches when neither player is performing well enough to win a game, but simply accepts gifts from her opponent. Keothavong, with at least a dozen unforced errors, was the more generous.

With the first set in the bag after almost an hour, Mayr treated herself to a toilet break. A chance, perhaps, for Keothavong to gather her thoughts and impose herself on the match?

Quite the opposite. Mayr started clubbing winners from both flanks, while the likeable Londoner just came up with ever more inventive ways to hit the ball out or into the net.

When the end came, after an hour and 26 minutes, Keothavong could hardly get off the court fast enough.

What a shame. She is a capable athlete with the game to go far, but this performance, and a string of semi-final defeats in other tournaments this year, suggest that there are psychological issues to be sorted before she can fulfil her potential.