Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong to double up

Published on 13/07/2012 01:25

ELENA Baltacha and Anne 
Keothavong will represent Great Britain at the Olympics in 
doubles as well as singles.

The pair were given wild cards into the singles tournament last month, with Laura Robson and Heather Watson entered in the doubles, but an injury to Romania’s Monica Niculescu has forced her to withdraw along with partner Irina-Camelia Begu. And the International Tennis Federation have given the place to Baltacha and Keothavong, both of whom have been stalwarts for Britain’s Fed Cup team for many years.

The host nation will also have two pairs in the men’s doubles, with Andy Murray and Jamie Murray and Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins earning places on their rankings, while Andy Murray will be the sole representative in the men’s singles. The mixed doubles entries will be decided when the players sign in for the tournament, which begins at Wimbledon on 28 July.

Meanwhile, Heather Watson surrendered a one-set lead to bow out of the Bank of the West Classic in California with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 second-round loss to fifth seed Yanina Wickmayer. There was some consolation, though, as Watson and Marina Erakovic got to the semi-finals of the doubles by beating Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones.