Rob McLean - Baltacha and Keothavong inject fresh hope
Angela Mortimer won the 1961 Wimbledon final against fellow Brit Christine Truman, Ann Jones did it in 1969 against American Billie Jean King (I was at boarding school at the time and no one cared about tennis, mixed boarding I should add, and I wanted Billie Jean to win, sorry) and Virginia Wade triumphed in 1977, with Sue Barker a losing semi-finalist
Ah, the golden days of British women's tennis.
Okay, sorry it is a Wimbledon theme again. Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong in 2010 haven't a hope in hell of achieving those feats but the mini home revival of recent weeks means that all may not be lost by the first three days at the All England Club this year, and it might just get a bit better.
Two British female players in the latter stages of a WTA tournament. You may want to read that again.
Baltacha and Keothavong reached the quarter-finals and semis respectively of the Memphis event, won by Maria Sharapova.
And this came a week after Baltacha won her first ITF Midland event in Michigan on top of reaching the third round of the Australian Open. Could it be that we will be witnessing some green shoots of recovery just in time for the grass-court season? Have they slightly shook up (sorry, Memphis, Elvis) the British women's scene?
It was not one of the elite events on the tour, but by British standards it was a big step in the right direction. Attempts to find the last time that two British women made an impact at the same time in a similar event meant hours of research with very little reward.
In the end I went with my memory and it was almost certainly the days of Jo Durie, Sara Gomer, Anne Hobbs or Annabel Croft in the mid 1980s. Anyone who knows otherwise, please let me know.
However, Baltacha stands alone as the only British woman in the past 10 years to have made it beyond the second round at Wimbledon (she achieved a third round exit in 2002).
This year we may just avoid the annual inquest in to how it all went horribly wrong - again. Baltacha and Keothavong are fighters, both having come back from serious illness and injury in recent years.
If the other Brits can raise their game along with the two genuine stars of the future, Laura Robson and Heather Watson, maybe, just maybe Andy Murray won't be the only show in town come the second week of Wimbledon.
For Murray it must feel like the season is starting all over again as he takes his place in the Dubai Championships. After an extended break following the Aussie Open final defeat he has had a chance to regroup and knows he has one more step to take, namely winning the big points in the biggest matches.
Despite getting his early tennis education on clay, the French Open, his next Grand Slam attempt, is not regarded as his best hope of making the big breakthrough, but he got to the fourth round last year and his superior fitness could be a factor.
His main threats, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, are unlikely to be as potent on this surface as in recent years. One man who will always have a soft spot for clay, and from whom Murray can draw comfort is old stone face Ivan Lendl, who lost four Slam finals before he made the breakthrough against John McEnroe in the 1984 French Open final.
Lendl, incidentally, returns to a tennis court for the first time since his retirement in 1994. when he takes part in a exhibition in Atlantic City in April alongside Andy Roddick, Mats Wilander and Marat Safin.
The Czech-born American, was one of the greatest players of all time - a tennis equivalent of the Great White Shark, seemingly devoid of personality, who took the game to a new level of fitness and was despised by his early rivals John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors.
Brad Gilbert, the former top 10 player and coach who wrote the book 'Winning Ugly', aimed at helping less talented players finding a way past their superiors, managed to beat everyone at some point of his career - except Lendl.
Lendl, who won eight Grand Slam titles, and Roddick both fall into that select club of players who have been in more than one Wimbledon final and never won the title. Roddick has been in three. They should have a lot to talk about.
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Date published :
23 Feb 2010 - 07:20:19
