• US Open, Day Two

Baltacha battles past Hampton

ESPN staff
August 30, 2011
Elena Baltacha drew on all her experience to beat Jamie Hampton © Getty Images
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Elena Baltacha dug deep into her reserves to claim a brilliant victory over Jamie Hampton who was forced to retire with the score at 2-6 6-2 5-1 in the Brit's favour.

Baltacha was overwhelmed early on but she kept chipping away and had taken control of the match when her opponent was forced to retire after suffering a serious case of cramp.

The pair have history from a testy encounter at the Australian Open and Hampton had some vocal support on Court 7. The public backing certainly drove the American on in the early stages as she dominated from the back of the court, hitting with precision and power.

Hampton claimed a break of serve in the fourth game and repeated the trick as many games later as she raced through the opening set.

Baltacha was staring a crushing defeat in the face, but drew on her experience to change the pace of play. The British No. 1 opted to move the ball around the court, taking the pace off the ball with delicate angles and it broke up Hampton's rhythm.

Baltacha drew confidence from forcing Hampton to scamper in the second and secured a double break to force a deciding set.

A break of serve for Baltacha followed at the start and with the Brit leading 2-1, Hampton called for the trainer to examine a wrist complaint.

Baltacha was not put off by Hampton calling a medical timeout as she held serve and broke again for a 4-1 lead.

Hampton was by now clearly struggling with more than a wrist problem and went down with cramp at 5-1 down in the third set. The doctors were called, while Baltacha was swift to cross the net and help out by applying ice, and Hampton was forced to retire.

The news was not so good for fellow Brit Anne Keothavong, who suffered a 7-5 6-3 loss to South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers. The first round exit will no doubt leave the 27-year-old ruing her missed opportunities, as she dished up a whopping 52 unforced errors.

Keothavong appeared in complete control early on as she stormed to a 5-3 lead in the opening set. However, she allowed the following four games to slip by to surrender the set in somewhat weak fashion.

The second set continued the slide for Keothavong, as she had her serve broken in the first game, before battling her way back into the contest. It was all too late, though, as Scheepers closed out the match on the back of a steady service game.

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