French Open: Elena Baltacha loses Roland Garros opener

Elena Baltacha followed fellow Briton Laura Robson out of the French Open with a swift defeat by New Zealand's Marina Erakovic in the first round.

After waiting until 8pm local time to start on a rain-hit day, the Scot went down 6-3 6-0 in 56 minutes to leave Heather Watson as the only remaining Briton in singles at Roland Garros.

Watson starts her campaign against Stefanie Voegele on Wednesday after their match, scheduled to follow Baltacha's on Court Three, was postponed because of the weather.

Baltacha was playing her first Grand Slam match since last year's Wimbledon following an ankle injury that had kept her out since the Olympics, almost ending her career.

The 29-year-old only returned to action last month but made a positive start against Erakovic, who was not exactly in a rich vein of form after seven defeats in her last eight matches.

Baltacha started confidently and broke to lead 2-0, but it was all downhill from there as the 25-year-old New Zealander, ranked 92 in the world, took control.

Erakovic broke back to love to make it 2-2, and a superb drop shot helped her do so once again as she reeled off five games in a row.

Baltacha fought hard to stay in the set and fashioned three chances to get the break back at 5-3 down, but Erakovic held on and raced away with the second set.

A forehand into the net from Baltacha on break point in the opening game set the tone, and Erakovic was in complete command as she made it seven games in a row to seal a fine win.

Following the match Baltacha said: "I think on a whole she just played an unbelievable match and I just couldn't hurt her with anything today.

"The comeback has been pretty good. I've been pretty happy. My form has been good. It's just a shame today I couldn't quite turn it around. It's a shame that she played such a good match."