Wimbledon over for Brit mixed pair
Kleybanova and Soares knock Rosco and AK out of SW19 mixed
Ross Hutchins and Anne Keothavong’s Wimbledon campaigns are over after mixed doubles defeat to Bruno Soares and Alisa Kleybanova on Friday.
The British women’s and doubles No.1s produced a spirited and entertaining performance against the Russian-Brazilian pair, but found it difficult to deal with their opponents’ power game and went down 6-4 6-2.
The British pair had clearly arrived on court with a game plan, with Hutchins rushing the net while Keothavong sat back, and it looked to be serving them well early on.
But with Hutchins serving in game five, a failed drop shot from his partner sealed the break for Soares and Kleybanova, with the Brazilian consolidating the lead in the next game.
The Brits nearly slipped two breaks behind but Keothavong produced a sublime down-the-line pass from outside the tramlines to hold her serve.
And they nearly clawed back the break with Kleybanova serving for the set, but the Russian’s serve proved to hot to handle as she closed out the set from deuce.
Any thoughts of a comeback evaporated when the British pair slipped two breaks behind in the second set as Soares dominated proceedings at the net.
It wasn’t long before the Russian and Brazilian reached match point, sealed when Keothavong buried a forehand return into the net.
