Baltacha wins again; Henman to make tennis comeback

ELENA Baltacha continued her impressive recent form as she edged closer to the main draw of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

IN FORM: Elena Baltacha is enjoying her best run of results ever - and is one match away from the main draw of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (Getty Images)

The British number one - whose recent run at Indian Wells lifted her to a career high world ranking of 62 - beat American Julie Dity 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of qualifying in Miami and will face Chinese Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan on Tuesday for a place in the main draw.

British number two Katie O'Brien was another British winner, battling back from a set down to beat American Christina McHale 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, and will play Michaella Krajicek for a main draw berth.

O'Brien and Baltacha are bidding to complete a quartet of British women in the main draw in Miami with Anne Keothavong and Heather Watson already confirmed.

Former top 50 player Keothavong is continuing her comeback from a long-term injury and has been granted direct entry into the draw and will play Austria's Tamira Paszek in round one.

Meanwhile, junior US Open champion Watson was granted a wild card courtesy of her management company IMG's close links with tournament organisers and will play a qualifier in her opening match before a potential second round encounter with Denmark's second seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Meanwhile, Tim Henman has announced he will make his competitive tennis comeback at the AEGON Tennis Masters at the Royal Albert Hall in London later this year.

The four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist quit the sport three years ago, although he played a doubles exhibition match last year to launch the new roof on Wimbledon's centre court.

"Having had a break for two and a half years, I'm really looking forward to playing tennis again," said Henman.

"From the age of five to the age of 33, tennis was the dominating factor in my life. For 27 of those years it was my hobby, but I think in the last six months it was becoming my job and I never wanted that to be the case so I really feel like I stopped at the right time. 

"Once I did stop playing professionally I just wanted to have a complete break. It's been fantastic not to have to worry about practice, training and travel, and going away to tournaments and missing my family.

"However, I'm ready to add playing tennis to my schedule again because I feel like I've had a good break and my appetite for being on the court and hitting balls is returning."