AND then there were none.
The high tide of optimism in British women’s tennis receded last night, leaving all three players beached on the sidelines of the French Open. Elena Baltacha and Heather Watson joined first-round casualty Anne Keothavong following defeats by Vania King and Kaia Kanepi respectively.
Baltacha, the 27-year-old Scot, took the first set against King only to come up short against the American who is ranked 115th. King, though, has shown some form on clay and defeated Dominika Cibulkova, the 22nd seed, in the first round.
The American prevailed 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 on court six and Baltacha admitted she had been outlasted by her opponent. King was particularly adept at moving Baltacha around and neutralising the pace in the Scot’s game.
“I knew going into the match that it was going to be very difficult. She’s got a good game on clay and she’s playing very well. She took Cibulkova, so she was definitely not going to kind of lie down. No way,” she said.
However, Baltacha said the American had “stepped it up”, dominating the second set and closing out in a tight third. Typically, Baltacha is determined to take a positive experience from Roland Garros after beating Sloane Stephens, the 18-year-old American, in the first round and winning 250 points in the clay season.
“My confidence is sky high, obviously, by having such a good clay season. And I feel like I’m very fit going into the grass season,” said Baltacha. Watson, the 19-year-old from Guernsey, was outclassed by Kanepi, the world No.16 from Estonia, losing 6-1, 6-3.
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