Brtish tennis No 1 Anne Keothavong squandered a match-winning position as she lost seven games out of eight to go down to Marion Bartoli in the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California.

Having defeated world No 33 Sania Mirza in the first round, Keothavong found herself 4-1 up in the deciding set against Bartoli and seemingly on her way to a third-round meeting with Anna Chakvetadze before she lost four consecutive games.

Missed opportunity: Anne Keothavong

Although she levelled at 5-5, Keothavong was powerless to stop Bartoli claiming a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 victory.

Former Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli had raced through the first set after taking a 4-1 lead. However, Keothavong controlled the second set winning five successive games to level the match at one set all.