Battling fans fail to derail Baltacha

Winning start: Serena Williams lost just two games in her opening match

Chris Jones|Evening Standard|In Melbourne

14 April 2012

Elena Baltacha celebrated her elevation to British No 1 today with the greatest win of a tennis career that was put on hold for six months as she battled to overcome a serious liver problem.

The dark days of 2003 were put in the past as the 21-year-old became the first British woman since Sam Smith in 1999 to reach the second round of the Australian Open.

She needed every ounce of energy to defeat Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in 2hr 27min.

The victory, over an opponent who won the WTA tournament in Auckland nine days ago, meant Baltacha had to put off her flight home for a third time.

Having come through three matches in qualifying - a triumph in itself for a British player - Baltacha is now proving she can handle any problem, including even Nazi-saluting Croatian fans, who were intent on fighting with Serbian supporters waiting for the next match on Court 10.

Police moved in to stop the trouble but the noise and disruption halted the match and Baltacha lost the ninth game of a tense third set to love before regaining her poise to serve out the win that proved she is much better than her world ranking of 185.

Srebotnik is 119 places above Baltacha, who now meets Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, of France, in the second round. Cohen-Aloro, ranked 115, put out former champion Mary Pierce 6-2, 6-2. Exactly a year ago, Baltacha was celebrating her return to competitive tennis by taking part in a £5,500 tournament in Hull, where she lost in the semi-finals.

Now she is back in the big time and giving Britain's ailing women's game something to smile about.

She said: "In the six months I took off I realised just how much I loved tennis. My whole life is now tennis and I will sacrifice everything to fulfil my potential.

"I still need to get screened twice a year to check that everything is fine with my body and now I eat and sleep the sport.

"I have had to cancel the flights I booked home because of my wins and when I call my coach, Alan Jones, he keeps on telling me to stop lying when I say that I have won again.

"I won't get carried away because I know there are lots of weaknesses that I have to work on in my game. I am also having to overcome problems in each of my games here.

"This time it was chanting fans rather than rain delays. Security couldn't move the fans on and they wouldn't shut up.

"I had to stay calm and managed to keep my focus to serve out the match.

"I know there is pressure on the British women's game but I am just so glad to be playing again and while it appeared as if I was running like headless chicken in that third set, I kept saying to myself that I was nearly there.

"This win is more significant than when I beat Amanda Coetzer at Wimbledon in 2002 because I earned the right to be here rather than receiving a wild card."

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