Baltacha defeats Parmentier in Australia
Sunday, 17 January 2010
British number two Elena Baltacha reached the second round of the Australian Open by defeating Pauline Parmentier of France in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Going into the match, the British player had the higher ranking of the two players at 83 in the world, 22 places above her opponent. However, Baltacha wouldn't have understimated her opponent, as Parmentier has been ranked a lot higher than her current ranking of 105, reaching a career high of number 40 in July 2008.
Baltacha will now face the 30th seed, Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine in the next round. Bondarenko is ranked 51 places above the Briton at number 32.
Katie O'Brien's first round match against Austrian Patricia Mayr was delayed until Tuesday, due to rain at Melbourne Park.
In the men's draw, Andy Murray won in straight sets against qualifier Kevin Anderson of South Africa. The fifth seed took the victory, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.