Anne Keothavong’s first hurdle is a tall order

Anne Keothavong has been handed a shocking draw in the first round of the French Open after being paired with top seed Dinara Safina.

The day after becoming the first Briton to reach the semi-finals of a clay-court event for 26 years, Keothavong was given the worst possible draw.

Safina is in electric form after back-to-back clay court titles in Rome and Madrid and will be determined to go one better than last year at Roland Garros, where the Russian finished runner-up to Serb Ana Ivanovic.

This, however, is Keothavong's first time in the main draw after failing to get past qualifying on five occasions. Her confidence has been boosted by her run at the Warsaw Open, where she was playing Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko today, but it would be a huge shock if the world No56 was to win next week.

If Safina can maintain her form then she is on course for a possible revenge meeting with Ivanovic in the quarter-finals.

The eighth seed, who has won only two matches on clay this season and is just back from a knee injury, could have to deal with Belarus's Victoria Azarenka, seeded ninth, in the fourth round.