Abby Brammell

By Mike Dickson in New York

Off to a flyer: Elena Baltacha eased to victory against Petra Martic


In the grand scheme of the US Open, Elena Baltacha was a mere apostrophe on Monday - and how it suited her.

Exiled to the outermost court within Flushing Meadows' concrete expanses, the British No 1 did what proved beyond her at Wimbledon and comfortably put away the same opponent who caused her such angst at the All England Club.

Liberated from the claustrophobic pressure of trying to register a home win in the highest-profile fortnight of the summer, she defeated Petra Martic 6-2, 6-2 in just 65 minutes, escaping the worst of the day's 35-degree Celcius temperatures.

You were left wondering how the Ipswich-based Scot had managed to lose to the Croat in the first round at Wimbledon two months ago, when she was within two points of victory before losing in three sets.

This win, it must be said, was not just because Baltacha was so thoroughly accomplished, but also due to the woeful inconsistency of Martic, who scarcely did justice to her modest world ranking of 88.

For Baltacha, it had almost the feel of a cleansing experience, so much did her loss at Wimbledon rankle. 'I think I have flicked the demons off my shoulder now, it's my way of moving on,' she said afterwards.

Had the 27-year-old Briton finished her off at the All England Club it would have put a thin sheen of respectability on the usual dire level of British performances at SW19, where Andy Murray was the only individual from the host nation to register a singles win.

Baltacha hurt more than anyone during that black week for British tennis, for she had desperately wanted to showcase the undoubted improvements she has made this year when the most people were paying attention.

Here, by contrast, there were no cameras and barely 150 spectators around remote Court 17, although most of them appeared to be British tennis enthusiasts there to offer support.

Among the small assembly was a former British tennis player who must know all about trying to live up to expectations - Stanley Matthews Jnr, son of the great footballer, who now lives in nearby Connecticut.


Delight: Baltacha is through to the second round


Baltacha's father, Sergei, also played football, but her own sporting achievements are standing alone. She is on the brink of emulating Anne Keothavong in breaching the world's top 50, a product of results that have brought more than £129,000 in prize money this season.

The landmark ranking will certainly be passed should she defeat Wimbledon semi-finalist Petra Kvitova here in the second round, with the prospect of meeting defending champion Kim Clijsters in the third.

An illustration of just how desperate things have been in UK women's tennis is that Baltacha is only the second Briton in 13 years to win a main draw match here.

Things are slowly looking up and there is some genuine promise for the relatively near future, but the fact is that the Scot is a sole representative in the women's top 100, for all the expensive efforts of the Lawn Tennis Association.

The other sight of victory came in 2008 when Keothavong made the third round. She will play Taiwan's Jung-Jan Chan on Tuesday, while Murray must wait until Wednesday to play Slovakian Lukas Lacko.

By then Baltacha will be focusing on her next opponent, having exorcised the ghosts from that day at Wimbledon. 'The memories from that hurt, they really hurt, it tested me mentally and emotionally,' she said.

'At Wimbledon you want to do well and please the crowd, you feel the pressure. The defeat hit me most about a week later.

'When I look back I try to think that everything happens for a reason. It was weird drawing the same player here. I was so pumped for this.'

Baltacha was a ball of intensity from the outset as she tried to halt a run of four consecutive defeats, her worst sequence of the season. The improvement in her backhand and the all-round penetration of her strokes are marked this year and Martic, who contributed a welter of sloppy errors and double faults, was always behind.

Despite one close game when the Scot delivered two double faults, all was serene in this quiet outpost.

Clijsters was also among Monday's early winners, as was American teenager Melanie Oudin.

Men's No 5 seed Robin Soderling came close to being a first-day upset when he needed five sets to beat unknown Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer, the world No 214. The Swede finally won 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4.


source: dailymail