Baltacha and Keothavong progress
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong both reached the second round of The Cellular South Cup in Memphis, USA.
Baltacha, the eighth seed, defeated Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-1. Her next opponent will be qualifier Valerie Tetreault of Canada, a player ranked 52 places below the Brit at number 122. A win over the Canadian could set up a possible quarter-final meeting with top seed Maria Sharapova. Sharapova plays American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in her second round match.
Baltacha arrived at this tournament straight from winning the ITF event in Midland, Michigan. This win boosted her ranking to a career high of number 70.
British number three Anne Keothavong beat Kristina Barrois of Germany in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. She will now face seventeen year old Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal in round two. De Brito has a current ranking of 117, but last season, she broke into the top hundred, rising to a career high of number 76 in July, while still only sixteen years of age.
Keothavong is playing in her second ranking event since returning from a knee injury that kept her out of action for six months.
The third British player in the draw, Katie O'Brien, lost in straight sets to Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the USA, 6-2, 6-1.