in juniors) and ten quarterfinals. In junior doubles, she won one tournament, the 13th Salik Open, and lost in the final of two others: the LTA International Junior Tournament – Bisham Abbey and the 11th Malaysian International Junior Championships. All three of these were in 1999 and all three were partnering Elena Baltacha. 1998–2001 Keothavong played her first professional match on the ITF Women's Circuit in April 1998, at age 14, when she fell in the first round of qualifying for a $10k tournament in Birmingham. That year she played only two more matches (in the qualifying tournaments for $10k events in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and Felixstowe) and lost both of them. She finished the year without a world ranking. During May 1999, Keothavong played in a total of five ITF tournaments with her best result being in the $10k event in Sunderland where she won three matches to qualify and then reached the second round. In the other four events, she either lost in the first round or qualifying stages. Her final ranking of the year was world No. 702. In 2000, Keothavong played ten ITF events, losing in the qualifying stages in one, round one in three others, the second round four times (once as a lucky loser) and the quarterfinal in the $50k tournament in Cardiff. The other tournament she entered was the qualifying event for Wimbledon in which she participated courtesy of a wildcard. She beat Eva Martincová in round one of qualifying before losing to Yuka Yoshida. She improved her ranking to world No. 377. 2001 started well for Keothavong; in her first tournament of the year she won the title by beating compatriot Emily Webley-Smith in the quarterfinals and Elodie Le Bescond in the final. She then reached the quarterfinals of her next tournament, the $10k event in Tipton. In February, she reached the semifinals in Sutton, London ($25k) as a qualifier. She played in the Fed Cup for the first time in April and lost all three of her singles rubbers in straight sets. In June, she was given wildcards into the qualifying draws for the Birmingham Classic (where she was beaten in the first round of qualifying) and the Eastbourne International (where she reached the second round of qualifying) and the main draw of Wimbledon. She faced Janet Lee in round one and lost. In September and October, she reached three ITF quarterfinals