When it comes to nominating the most maligned group in the world of sports over the last few years it is hard to beat Britain’s female tennis players. Admittedly Derby County’s defenders seemed on the verge of ineptitude for the whole of last season, Bangladesh’s Test cricketers can only speculate what the feeling of victory must feel like and of course there is Steve McClaren although he’s an individual rather than a collection of players.

But we have all heard mocking barbs directed at the players trying by and large lamentably to revive a once proud tradition that saw the likes of Virginia Wade, Sue Barker, Ann Jones and Angela Mortimer actually win Grand Slam titles. Holding my hands up, I plead guilty to taking more cheap shots than is probably fair myself.

Watching first Naomi Cavaday and then Anne Keothavong show Wimbledon champion Venus Williams that there is still spirit to fuel a renaissance that has long been promised by the Lawn Tennis Association, forces me to realise it just might be time for a little reassessment.

Admittedly both British players, the 19 year old from Kent and the 24 year-old from London’s East End, ultimately lost out to the four times winner of the title, but along the way there was plenty of reasons to stoke the optimism.

With a little more self belief and perhaps a modicum of luck both could certainly have won the opening set and then anything would have been possible, with the seventh seed showing her habitual lack of touch in the opening rounds. What seems undeniable is that if Williams shows such errant form that it is debatable whether any forehand will find it’s intended target, she will struggle when more assured opponents such as Jelena Jankovic or perhaps the hugely talented 17 year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki in a round or two’s time.

Yet for the moment let’s concentrate on Keothavong’s effort as she caused all kinds of nagging doubts in the champion’s mind during the one hour and 45 minutes Centre Court confrontation. Let’s not go down the road of being satisfied by failure because for far too long that has been a British trait but let’s also focus on what the nation’s no.1 can take out of this experience.

Keothavong is a fighter. Four years ago she determinedly battled back from a cruciate knee ligament injury that would have finished the careers of many players and just a few months ago she put the fact that danger lay just a few miles away as insurgents again terrorised Beirut and concentrated on winning a second tier Challenger title.

After two initial games where Williams threatened to run away with the match, Keothavong steadied herself and it is not an exaggeration to say that for the rest of the set she was certainly the more dominant player. Intelligent play, good movement, a precisely directed if not forceful serve and the benefit of having a supportive crowd behind her, all contributed to the sort of showing that did justice to the fact she is the first British woman to be playing in this tournament as of right for nine years.

The important thing is now to build on this experience. Normally after Wimbledon she heads immediately back to the Challenger circuit but this time, courtesy of a ranking inside the world’s top 100, it will be top flight tournaments in America all the way through to the US Open where she does not have to concern herself with qualifying. What she can think about is improving her world ranking that currently stands at 92 to a place inside the top 75 and even top 50.

Keothavong sees that last number as her next major goal and should she achieve that before 2008 is through then British female tennis can unarguably hold its head high again. It has been a long wait but dare we finally say there is light at the end of the tunnel?