Elena Baltacha reaches second round in Strasbourg
- Published
Baltacha is currently ranked 83 in the world
British number one Elena Baltacha advanced to the second round of the Strasbourg International after her opponent retired because of injury.
The Scot, 27, won the first set 6-3 before Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova said she could no longer continue.
Baltacha will next play top seed Marion Bartoli of France, who beat Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-2 6-1.
"Of course I'm delighted to be through to the next round, despite the circumstances," said Baltacha.
"I played some solid tennis in the first set and it was a real shame that Rybarikova couldn't carry on after picking up an injury during the match.
"I'm really excited about my next match - Kimiko is so experienced but I'd also be very excited about a potential second-round match against Marion Bartoli because she's ranked 12 in the world.
"Either way it's going to be another test and another valuable preparation match before going over to the French Open. This has been a really good clay-court season so far and I'm definitely enjoying myself more than I have in the past. It's great to keep it going here."
Second seed Andrea Petkovic earlier beat fellow German Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3 6-1.