Baltacha battles into round two in Indian Wells

BRITAIN'S number one Elena Baltacha has battled into the second round of the BNP Paribas Open with a hard-fought win over Alexa Glatch in Indian Wells, California.

BATTLING THROUGH: Elena Baltacha wins a tough match against Alexa Glatch coming
through in three sets in Indian Wells (Getty Images)

Baltacha, who is currently ranked 65th in the world, overcame the American wild card 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to set up a tie with seventh seed Li Na from China.

In a match riddled with errors world number 154 Glatch could not keep up the pressure on the 26-year-old Brit as the match went past the two-hour mark.

Baltacha had struggled with her serve in her qualifying matches, but the Ukranian-born Scot was relatively untroubled on that front and conceded just two break points in the match.

However compatriot Anne Keothavong could not make it into the draw for round two after she fell at the hands of Russian Anna Chakvetadze 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Keothavong looked in good shape as she took the first set but the Russian, who reached a career high ranking of five in September 2007, let her quality come through to defeat the world number 123.

Meanwhile, former world number one Justine Henin booked her place in the next round with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 victory over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in just over an hour.

The Belgian, who is playing in only her third tournament since retiring in May 2008, is unseeded in California despite reaching the final of the Australian Open in January and will face number 31 seed Gisela Dulko next.