• Sony Ericsson Open

Baltacha only British survivor in Miami

Anne Keothavong has lost four of her nine matches so far in 2010 © Getty Images

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First round report

British No.1 Elena Baltacha continues to be in career-best form in the United States as her 6-2 6-4 win over Iveta Benesova took her through to the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Baltacha has reached her career-best rank of 62 stateside, and that number should continue to tumble with this latest victory - her 20th of the year.

Fresh from a third round appearance in Indian Wells, Baltacha is a qualifier again in Florida but she isn't content to finish there. She set up a meeting with Belgian 12th-seed Yanina Wickmayer, who had a bye through to the second round.

Benesova was an even match on paper for Baltacha, being three ranks higher, one year older and holding a 1-1 career record with the Briton. But it didn't prove to be so as Baltacha wrapped up the match in just over an hour.

Baltacha grabbed two breaks in each set to secure victory, taking advantage of eight double faults by the Czech. Promisingly, Baltacha's serve was much improved as she won two thirds of points with the ball on her own racquet.

Anne Keothavong's fluctuating form continued as she crashed out in the first round 6-4 6-2 to Austria's Tamira Paszek.

British No. 2 Keothavong now has a 5-4 record so far this year, having returned to action in February following seven months out with a knee ligament injury. Perhaps still struggling for fitness as her comeback continues, Keothavong started strongly before losing the final four games of the first set as she struggled for service rhythm.

This was in marked contrast to her assured start, which saw Keothavong break serve in the first game before moving into a 4-2 lead thanks to some fluent shot-making. She would go on to lose her next two service games, however, as Paszek clinched the opening set in 37 minutes.

Keothavong was unable to recover her composure during the interval between sets, losing the opening two games of the second as she again failed to find any menace behind her first serve. At 4-1 down in the second, a struggling Keothavong had won 0% of the points on her first serve as she headed relentlessly towards defeat.

Fittingly, she was broken one more time as Paszek closed out the match, and the Austrian now moves on to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round.

Fellow Briton Heather Watson followed Keothavong out of the tournament with a hugely disappointing showing in a 6-4 6-2 defeat to Tsvetana Pironkova.

Watson missed a break opportunity in her opponent's very first service game of the match, and things went downhill from there in Miami. By contrast, Pironkova accepted her first break opportunity on the Watson serve and it proved enough to wrap up the first set.

At 3-2 in the first, Watson had a chance to break back, but once again she missed her chance as the confidence drained out of her game. Pironkova capitalised to rattle off four straight games at the start of the second set, allowing her to serve out for a victory that sets up a second round meeting with No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki.

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