• AEGON International

Baltacha storms past Rezai, Watson beaten

ESPN staff
June 14, 2011
Elena Baltacha was rarely asked to stretch in beating Aravane Rezai © Getty Images
Enlarge

WTA Tour seedings

Elena Baltacha justified her wildcard selection at the AEGON International with an imposing victory over Aravane Rezai to reach the second round in Eastbourne.

The Brit was a winner in Nottingham at the weekend and took tremendous confidence on court against the world No. 54. Baltacha dominated from the outset, serving well throughout and working her French opponent around the court from the baseline.

The Brit made 67% of her first serves and she was never broken in the match. Her strong effort on serve allowed Baltacha to attack her opponent and she converted five of 11 break points to secure a 6-2 6-1 win in an hour and four minutes.

A tougher challenge will face Baltacha in the second round, as she will come up against Victoria Azarenka.

Fellow Brit Heather Watson is out after she lost to top seed Vera Zvonareva. Watson could not have wished for a tougher draw, but she battled admirably for a 6-3 6-3 loss.

Zvonareva broke three times en route to victory, but Watson will have learned plenty from defeat after she struggled with the Russian's variations in pace. Watson looked threatening against the Zvonareva first serve, but she only took two points off the slower ball and struggled with her own second serve.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices