2005 Jan 17 - Baltacha defeats Srebotnik

Elena Baltacha reached the second round of the Australian Open with an impressive 5-7 6-4 6-4 win over world No.66 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

After the match Elena told Radio 5 Live:

"It was such a tough match, I'm really chuffed to have done it on hard rather than on grass at Wimbledon.

"There were a couple of sloppy games from both of us but she raised her standard and I had to raise mine.

"I haven't been serving great but in the qualifying it didn't matter so much, but I was returning well."

Elena received significant support from the British fans who had turned out to watch the match.

"It was so nice, there were so many of them and they kept lifting me. The atmosphere was unbelievable."

A liver disorder has delayed the progress of the former British No.1 but she has fought back and raised the bar for British women's tennis.

"I'm really glad I've had the chance to come back from illness.

"It was difficult but I've had unbelievable people around me."