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Baltacha defeated in three-day contest at Hobart

Elena Baltacha's returning game was not up to standard in her straight sets defeat to Roberto Vinci © Getty Images

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British No. 1 Elena Baltacha finally finished her second-round match against Roberta Vinci at the Hobart International on Thursday, but the result was far from desirable as she crashed out in straight sets.

Baltacha began her encounter with the Italian on Tuesday but, after dropping the first set, play was suspended due to the weather. Further delays were then brought on Wednesday after the entire day's play was washed out.

The Briton, ranked 55 in the world, eventually returned to court on Thursday, where she could not inspire a turnaround in fortunes as she lost 6-3 6-4 to a player ranked 16 places higher in the WTA rankings. Vinci was not significantly on top of Baltacha throughout the match, but there was little threat offered against the Vinci serve, which yielded eight aces and conceded just one break point.

Vinci went on to lose 6-1 6-2 to Jarmila Groth in the quarter-finals later in the day, and she was joined on her way out by top seed Marion Bartoli, who was defeated by Klara Zakapalova 6-4 6-2. Shuai Peng and the in-form Bethanie Mattek-Sands are also into the semi-finals.

At the Sydney International, Kim Clijsters was given a stern test ahead of next week's Australian Open, eventually coming from behind to beat Alisa Kleybanova in three sets. Clijsters, who is favourite to win the first ladies' grand slam of the year, was on court for a shade under three hours before she booked her place in the final.

Kleybanova claimed the first set against the world No. 3, and she led by a break on two occasions in the second, but Clijsters dug in to force a third-set tiebreak, which she took 7-1.

The Belgian will face China's Li Na in the final after she defeated Serbian youngster Bojana Jovanovski.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.