Baltacha sheds tears of joy after victory over Kerber gives Brits a winning start

Tears are nothing new for British hopefuls at Wimbledon but Elena Baltacha was weeping with joy yesterday after reaching the second round.

The Scot, 24, could not contain her emotions after fighting back to beat the higher ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.
She was in bits even before shaking hands at the net. On a blessedly clear day during which seventh seed David Nalbandian was the biggest faller, Baltacha was the lone British winner, with Melanie South bravely losing a tight three-setter and Alex Bogdanovic notching his seventh straight Wimbledon defeat as a wildcard.

No matter that Baltacha's opponent is only ranked 131 in the world and not exactly Steffi Graf's successor in the former powerhouse tennis nation.

The open show of her feelings is more indicative that victory at Wimbledon, any victory, counts for so much more than arguably more significant triumphs at other times of the year.



Baltacha said: 'When the draw came out I looked at it and thought she'd be tough, but it's a very winnable match. There was a bit of pressure on me because it wasn't a top seed. When I finally won it there was just pure relief.

'I'm very emotional because this does mean a lot to me. I love playing tennis and it hasn't been an easy road.'

Among the obstacles Baltacha has had to overcome is a chronic liver condition which needs to be kept at bay by regular monitoring and medication.

Contrary to stereotypes, the majority of British singles players at Wimbledon are the children either of footballers or immigrants or, in the case of Baltacha, both.

Her father Sergei, originally from the Ukraine, played for Ipswich and St Johnstone and while he was absent yesterday he plans to be there tomorrow when she faces fellow wildcard Jie Zheng of China.

That Baltacha is still there is due to her admirable survival instincts in a real ugly duckling of a match in which she continually had to come from behind in the decider.

Finally ahead at 6-5 and receiving, she needed three match points before clinching victory with a forehand that hit the net and dribbled over.

It left her opponent, a tall lefthander with a serve that would not frighten the horses, in tears of an utterly different variety.

'I just fought and fought today. I'm so chuffed that all the work I've done has really paid off today - everything, the nutrition, the gym,' said Baltacha, who has had to desist from her favourite treat of pepperoni pizza.

The faint whiff of revival in British women's tennis was added to by world No 150 South.

The 20-year-old served and attacked with gusto and saved four match-points before going down 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 to 28th seed Alona Bondarenko, 23, of Ukraine, who she could never quite match in the final set.

After conceding the first set, she took Bondarenko to a tie-break in the second and crushed her opponent 7-1 to level the match.

However, despite being cheered on by a partisan home crowd in the early evening on Court 18, the Briton - based just down the road in New Malden - slipped 5-2 behind in the decider.

South then produced an unexpected break back to love as she kept her hopes alive, only to have to save four match-points in the During the Open era that began in 1968 only Chile's Armando Cornejo has a worse record at The Championships, having lost all of his eight singles matches.

Bogdanovic is now into double figures of wildcard losses at SW19, having had three into the doubles, which have paid him around £75,000, depending on your currency conversions.

The frustrating thing is that the Belgrade-born, London-reared lefthander showed plenty of his natural talent and there is no doubt that Gilbert has got him into the best physical shape of his life.

He was constantly frustrated by the Italian's ability to serve well on the crucial points and was unable to convert a set-point at 6-5 in the first set and in the fourth.

One day the work he has done with Gilbert may bear proper fruit, but it might not be until after the American has left the employ of the LTA.