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Baltacha sent tumbling in second round

Flavia Pennetta saw a good start come to nothing against Alberta Brianti © Getty Images

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Britain's Elena Baltacha crashed out of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad on Tuesday, going down to third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0 7-6(4).

After recording an impressive win in the first round over Melanie Oudin, Baltacha failed to make an impact in the opening set of the second round clash as Radwanska stormed to an early lead.

However, the second set proved to be more of a contest as the 27-year-old Brit fought her way back, only for Radwanska to save two break points at 5-4 before clinging on for victory in the tiebreaker.

Tenth seed Flavia Pennetta threw away a one-set lead against Alberta Brianti, eventually falling to a 6-1 2-6 2-6 defeat in the first round.

Pennetta only landed 26% of her first serves in the opening set but it mattered little as she leapt on her opponent's own service, breaking four times. Her joy was shortlived, however, as Brianti raised her game dramatically in the second, holding her nerve on her own serve and forcing two breaks of her own.

The decider was a tense affair, with both players making a host of unforced errors. Pennetta struggled to get her return game going, though, and this ultimately led to her downfall as Brianti ran out a deserved winner.

Top seed Vera Zvonareva had no problems against qualifier Jill Craybas cruising to a 6-4 7-5 victory, whilst Sabine Lisicki served further notice of her returning quality with a straight-sets win over Greta Arn. Lisicki, who reached her first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon this year as a wildcard, broke five times to secure a 6-0 6-2 thrashing in less than an hour.

Italy's Sara Errani breezed past the challenge of Sania Mirza 6-2 6-3. Errani did not have everything her own way but took full advantage of her opponent's weak serve to book her place in the next round. Eleventh seed Maria Kirilenko dispatched Rebecca Marino with minimal fuss but fellow Russian and No. 14 seed Elena Vesnina suffered a shock defeat at the hands of qualifier Marina Erakovic.

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