Anne Keothavong and Mel South have bowed out in the second round of their respective Australian Open warm-up events in Hobart and Sydney.
Competing at the Moorilla Hobart International, Keothavong lost against Virginie Razzano of France 6-4 0-6 5-7 on Tuesday.
“It was tough for Annie to lose 7-5 in the third set for the second week in a row but she put up another great fight,” said Nigel Sears, Head Women’s Tennis Coach at the LTA.
“Annie will need to stay a little calmer in the crisis if she is going to come through these close battles where the margins are very fine.”
In Monday’s first round, the British No.1 impressively beat Agnes Szavay of Hungary, ranked No.25 in the world, 6-3 7-5.
Keothavong, who reached a career high world ranking of No.53 this week, is also competing in the doubles with Italian Mara Santangelo, the pair set to meet top seeded Ukrainians Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko in their opening match.
Meanwhile, Sarah Borwell and American Courtney Nagle were knocked out of the doubles at the quarter-final stage, losing against Czech duo Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 3-6 4-6.
South falls to world No.12 in Sydney
Mel South’s fine run at the Medibank International in Sydney came to an end on Tuesday, losing against world No.12 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 2-6 0-6.
“It’s been a great week and there are a ton of positives for Mel to take away from here to next week’s Australian Open and the season ahead,” said South’s coach, Simon Walsh.
“The score didn’t reflect the quality of the match and the closeness of a lot of the games. The first set was very high quality and Mel had some real chances which she wasn’t able to convert.”
“She is playing very well and her game has gone to a new level. For Mel, it’s now about getting this type of invaluable experience and exposure of competing against the top players more often.”
On her way to the second round, the 21 year-old came through three qualifying matches without dropping a set before facing Marion Bartoli of France in the opening round, the former Wimbledon runner-up withdrawing through injury at 1-1 in the first set.
Having gained direct entry into the Aussie Open main draw, South will now join Keothavong in Melbourne to compete in the first Grand Slam of the year.
In the qualifying, which gets under way on Wednesday, Alex Bogdanovic, Josh Goodall, James Ward and Alex Slabinsky will be vying to join Andy Murray in the men’s event while Elena Baltacha, Katie O’Brien and Georgie Stoop will be trying to book a place in the women’s event.