| Keothavong wins the inaugural Barnstaple Open final.
British name to be first on the Dartington Vase.
Anne Keothavong has become the first ever Barnstaple Open (Ladies) champion.
The British No 1, who received a wildcard to enter the women's $50k event, beat Italian Alberta Brianti 6-4 6-2 in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Tarka Tennis Centre in North Devon today.
Keothavong did not drop a set en route to lifting the Dartington Vase trophy, including a semi-final victory over fellow Brit Katie O'Brien. The 25 year-old is currently ranked No 80 in the world and achieved a career high ranking of No 71 in September.
After wrapping up her victory, top seed Keothavong was presented with the Dartington Vase and spoke warmly of her time in North Devon.
"I've had a lovely week," said the 25-year-old. "Everyone has been welcoming and friendly. The British girls have all felt we have had a lot of support all week."
Both players found it difficult to hold serve in the early stages, and it was Brianti, ranked 93 places below her opponent at 173 in the world, who took a 3-1 lead in the first set.
But Keothavong broke back and began to find her range in her own service games. Fighting back from 40-15 down, Keothavong broke Brianti to take a 5-4 lead and then sent down two aces to win the first set.
The Brit raised her game even further in the second set. It was all Brianti could do to just about hold serve early on, but she was broken in game five and Keothavong won five on the trot to take the second set 6-2.
Nigel Sears, LTA Head Coach of Women's Tennis, said: “I'm delighted that Anne pulled off the win this week. She played credible opponents all the way through and has really earned her title. We couldn't have had a better ending to the Barnstaple Open, the first women's $50k tournament here in Barnstaple.”
After the match Keothavong said: “Alberta was a fantastic opponent and played some great tennis but I feel I perhaps was the stronger player today. It's my first time in Barnstaple and I have really enjoyed being here. I'm very pleased I accepted a last minute wild card!”
The final of the doubles competition was won by the Tournament No 2 seeds, Kelly Anderson of South Africa and Emma Laine of Finland defeated Erica Krauth of Argentina and Hanna Nooni of Sweden 6-2 6-3. The second Dartington Vase (Doubles) was presented to the winning pair, who again thanked everyone for a great week and for the level of support given to them from the crowd that attended their final.
The LTA have wasted no time in confirming to the organisers that the Barnstaple Open has already been scheduled for next year at a similar $50k level, but may increase this following a review of the weeks play, the amount of promotion provided by Tarka and their Tournament Partners and the number of spectators that attended the event over the 7 days.
So the Barnstaple Open (Ladies) will be back, bigger and better, next year.
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Saturday 11 October
The stage is set...
Two fantastic semi-finals have resulted in an thrilling prospect for the final day of play at the inaugural Barnstaple Open. The two girls, who over the last week have become popular guests at the Tarka Tennis Centre in Barnstaple, will be fighting it out not only for a share of the prize money but also to become the first name on the Dartington Vase. Tickets are still available and can be purchased through the Ticket Hotline on 01271 377701.
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Keothavong and Brianti reach the first ever Barnstaple Open Final.
Anne Keothavong won the Battle of Britain with Katie O'Brien to take her place in tomorrow's Barnstaple Open final.
The British number one and top seed at the $50k LTA Women's event in North Devon, won in straight sets, 6-4 6-4, to set up a meeting with Italian Alberta Brianti.
The semi-final win maintained Keothavong's unbeaten record against O'Brien, but as usual it was a battling performance from the British number four.
In a first set punctuated by long baseline rallies, a delicate touch from Keothavong with a volley at the net gave her the first break in the third game.
O'Brien broke back to level the set at 4-4 but then lost her serve straightaway - a double fault handing her opponent the break. Keothavong held serve to tie up the set 6-4.
The top seed survived three break points in game eight before taking her place in the final when O'Brien put a backhand wide on the first of two match points.
Nigel Sears, LTA Head Coach of Women's Tennis, reflected “Both girls played a high quality match and can take a lot of positives from it. All credit to Anne for coming through a tough battle. I think the spectators really enjoyed an all-British semi-final.”
Alberta Brianti, the world number 173, takes her place in the final after opponent Lina Stanciute was forced to retire through injury.
The Lithuanian, who came through three qualifying rounds before taking her place in the main draw at the Tarka Tennis Centre, had her left thigh heavily strapped throughout the match.
She lost the first set 6-3 but battled back to take the second on a tie-break - to the delight of the Barnstaple fans who had taken the world number 360 to their hearts.
Stanciute had the strapping replaced at 3-0 down in the deciding set. And the 22-year-old decided she was unable to continue when she failed to reach a wide Brianti forehand and was broken again, handing the Italian a 6-3 6-7(5) 4-0 victory.
In the doubles semi-finals, Argentinean Erica Krauth and Swede Hanna Nooni beat the German pairing of Angelique Kerber and Tatjana Malek 6-4 7-6(5) while South African Kelly Anderson and Finn Emma Laine beat Sarah Borwell and American Courtney Nagle 6-1 1-6 [10-7].
The Singles final is scheduled to start at 11am on Sunday (12 Oct) and the Doubles final will follow in the afternoon.
...........................................................................Friday 10 October
Keothavong and O'Brien go head to head in an all British semi...
Anne Keothavong and Katie O'Brien will meet each other in the singles semi-final at the Barnstaple Open in Devon.
Keothavong secured her place in the last four of the LTA women's $50k event by producing a flawless display to defeat Johanna Larsson 6-3 6-4. The British No 1 raced through the opening set and after dropping serve at 5-3 in the second she broke the Swede to clinch victory.
O'Brien produced a similarly impressive performance in beating Hungarian Katalin Marosi 6-2 6-3. “The match was almost perfect” the 22 year-old said, “I felt in the zone.”
O'Brien continued “Anne and I are good friends and we train together. My track record against her isn't great but I have to change it one day so hopefully it will be tomorrow.”
Nigel Sears, LTA Head Coach of Women's Tennis, said “Annie played at a top 50 level and that's great to see. Katie produced her best performance since the Fed Cup in January. It's fantastic to see a guaranteed British finalist in Barnstaple.”
The other semi-final will be contested between Lithuanian Lina Stanciute and Italian Alberta Brianti. Stanciute overcame Anna Smith 6-2 6-7(8) 7-6(1) in a hard fought battle while Brianti saw off fellow Italian Roberta Vinci 4-6 6-3 7-6(2).
No 2 seeds Sarah Borwell and American Courtney Nagle have reached the doubles semi-final where they will meet Kelly Anderson of South Africa and Emma Laine of Finland. In the top half of the draw, Argentinean Erica Krauth and Swede Hanna Nooni will face the German pairing of Angelique Kerber and Tatjana Malek for a place in the final.
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Thursday 9 October
Keothavong through to Quarters
British No.1 Anne Keothavong reached the quarter-final of the Barnstaple Open with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Yevgenia Savranska.
'I'm really enjoying playing in Devon,' said world No.80 Keothavong. 'Everyone here is very friendly and has gone to a lot of effort to make the tournament a success.'
Keothavong faces Johanna Larsson from Sweden in the match on the show court on Friday. Play starts at 1pm.
Britain's No.1 doubles player, Sarah Borwell, and partner Courtney Nagle, reached the semi-final of the doubles with a 6-3 7-6 (2) victory over Katalin Marosi and Marina Tavares
Borwell and Nagle will meet Kelly Anderson and Emma Laine in the semi-final, to be played on Saturday
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Katie O'Brien joins strong British presence in the Quarters
British No.4, Katie O'Brien, beat Amdrea Hlavackova to reach the quarter-final of the Barnstaple Open, 6-3 6-1.
Breaking serve four times in the match, O'Brien appeared to make short work of the one hour, five minute contest. But the Yorkshire woman said it was not as straightforward as it appeared.
‘The score line suggested that it was quite a comfortable win for me but there were a lot of close games,' said the world No.146, O'Brien.
‘I was mentally very good today and that meant I came through the key points. I was hitting the ball well. At first I was making a few errors but once I eliminated them I was the dominant player out there today.'
O'Brien said she was feeling better after suffering from illness for most of her week in Barnstaple. ‘I saw the doctor yesterday and got some rest and fresh air today and felt much more alert during my match,' said the 22-year-old who faces Katalin Marosi in the quarter-final.
The pair faced each other in Shrewsbury a fortnight ago with O'Brien coming out the winner. ‘It was a tight match then and I'm anticipating another tight match tomorrow,' said O'Brien.
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Anna Smith advances to the Quarter-final
British No.9, Anna Smith, beat No.3, Elena Baltacha, 6-2 6-1 to advance to the quarter-final of the Barnstaple Open.
Smith, the world No.396, who overcame a rankings gap of 261 places to claim victory in the one hour and one minute contest, was delighted following the match.
'This is one of the biggest victories of my career,' said the 20-year-old of her second round win. 'I didn't make many unforced errors today and I was pretty aggressive.
'She gave me quite a lot of cheap points and I was pretty confident in my game. Results don't get much better than today.'
Surrey born Smith will face Lina Stanciute in the quarter-final. The women have never played each other before and Smith is looking forward to the contest.
'She reached the final in Helsinki last week so she's playing well,' said Smith. 'I've seen her around a lot and it's going to be a tough match so hopefully that will keep spectators coming down to the event.
'I'm just going to keep playing my game tomorrow. It's worked well for me so far so I'm going to stick to stick to my winning strategy.'
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Vinci's run continues...
Roberta Vinci has progressed to the quarterfinal of the Barnstaple Open with a 7-6 (10) 6-0 victory over Emma Laine of Finland.
Laine put up a strong fight in the first set, breaking Italian Vinci to lead 5-3. But the world No.97, fought back in the tenth game of the first set to level the match at 5-5, games going with serve to force a tiebreak.
After a struggle, Vinci prevailed in the breaker, 10-8, and did not concede another game to her No.460 ranked opponent, Laine, advancing to the quarterfinal in one hour and 21 minutes.
“I am enjoying my matches here in Barnstaple and after winning the $75k event in Shrewsbury last week I'm hoping that I'll continue to do well here,” said the 25-year-old. “There is some tough competition here and I'm hoping to avoid some of the British girls, Baltacha and Keothavong, who seem to be in form here this week.”
Vinci will face fellow Italian Alberta Brianti in the quarterfinal. The pair are good friends and have played each other on three previous occasions with Vinci winning all three encounters in straight sets.
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Stanciute storms into Quarter-final
Lina Stanciute of Lithuania has stormed into the quarter-final of the Barnstaple Open with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Veronika Chvojkova of the Czech Republic.
It was another great win for Stanciute, who won her way through three rounds of qualifying earlier in the week to reach the main draw before defeating the No.2 seed, Maret Ani in the first round of the tournament being staged at the Tarka Tennis Centre.
The 22-year-old, ranked No.360 in the world, bridged a 65-place ranking gap to overhaul Chvojkova. She moves into the quarter-final to face the winner of the showdown between Brits Elena Baltacha, the tournament No.5 seed, and Anna Smith.
Johanna Larsson was another second round winner, beating Korina Perkovic in three tough sets, 6-7 (4) 6-2 6-2 in one hour and 46 minutes.
The Swede, who is partnering Britain's Anna Smith in the doubles event in $50k LTA event in Barnstaple, will face the winner of today's match between British No.1 Anne Keothavong, and Yevhenia Savranska of the Ukraine.
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Wednesday 8 October
Katie O'Brien, British No.4, progressed to the second round with a straight-sets win over Amanda Elliott - 6-1, 6-2.
Natasha Khan's impressive run at the Barnstaple Open ended when she lost 6-4, 6-2 to Alberta Brianti of Italy. Elena Baltacha fought hard to secure a place in the second round, beating Melanie Klaffner 7-6 (1) 6-7 (4) 6-2. Baltacha was within two points of winning the match at 30-30 on Klaffner's serve, but the Austrian battled back to take the second set to a tiebreak, which she won 7-4. Baltacha served for the match at 5-2, delivering an ace to claim her place in the second round of the tournament.
The tournament lost its No.2 seed, Maret Ani from Estonia, who fell to qualifier Lina Stanciute of Lithuania 6-3 7-6 (4). A great result for Stanciute, who will now face Veronkia Chvojkova of the Czech Republic.
Angelique Kerber has beaten Laura Robson in the first round of the Barnstaple Open, 7-6 (8) 4-6 2-6. Kerber, the world No.143, raced to a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Robson used her formidable forehand to fight back. She managed to level the set at 3-3 before forcing a tiebreak which she won 10-8. After a level start to the second set at 4-4, Kerber won nine consecutive points and broke Robson's serve. Robson held her serve in the first game of the third set, but the momentum was now with Kerber, who won five straight games to lead 5-1 and allowed the British girl just one more game before serving out the match to love.
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