All three British women who reached the second round of the AEGON International Tennis Championships at Eastbourne were shown the door by higher-ranked opposition but each produced an encouraging performance that should boost their hopes of a good run at Wimbledon next week.
British number 1 Laura Robson, 19, just failed to match the consistency of the durable Caroline Wozniacki who shovelled back all but the teenager’s most explosive shots and broke up her rhythm with a frustrating string of deep moon balls. As usual, Robson’s lateral movement looked suspect on the low-bouncing grass and she seemed under pressure when forced to sprint wide. However, she remained positive and thumped a series of bold winners for the lines before Wozniacki, roared on by her boyfriend golfer Rory McIlroy eventually prevailed thanks to a single break of serve in the ninth game of each set.
Elena Baltacha whose career has been blighted by illness and a string of injuries scored a fine first round victory against qualifier Kristyna Pliskova in straight sets and then came agonisingly close to the biggest win of her career against sixth seeded Maria Kirilenko.
Baltacha took the first set 6-4 with forthright hitting, underlining her natural grasscourt gifts as she kept the elegant Russian under constant pressure with some audacious winners. However, despite leading in the second set, she missed a couple of sitters and Kirilenko regained her composure to take control, and Baltacha went down fighting, ruing what might have been.
Another Russian, Elena Vesnina, better known as a doubles specialist, just got the better of Heather Watson in a rollercoaster 3-setter. Vesnina who had sensationally put out former world number 1 Ana Ivanovic in the first round, used her neat touch-play and fine volleying to close out the decider 6-2.
It was nevertheless and encouraging tournament for the ebullient Watson who after being sidelined for 4 months through glandular fever boosted her confidence and took another stride towards full match fitness when she beat world number 27 Varvara Lepchenko of the US in straight sets in the opening round.
Meanwhile the qualifier Jamie Hampton’s giant-killing run continues. After outhitting top seed Agneska Radwanska in the first round, she made it through to the semi-finals with an assured performance against rising Czech starlet Lucie Safirova, keeping her nerve to snatch it 6-4 in the third set.
