British pair negotiate qualifying
Date published :
04 Jan 2010 - 12:59:07
Elena Baltacha and James Ward gave British tennis an early boost in 2010 as they qualified for events in Auckland and Chennai respectively.
British number one Baltacha defeated Canada's Stephanie Dubois 6-3 6-1 to book a first-round meeting with Ioana Raluca Olaru at the Auckland Classic.
Ward eased past Israel's Noam Okun 6-2 6-3 at the Chennai Open in India.
The 22-year-old, who has been working with Greg Rusedski, spent some of the off-season training with Rafael Nadal.
He plays Spain's Marcel Granollers in the first round in Chennai.
It is only the second ATP-level tournament for which the world number 270 has qualified, having only recently returned to full fitness following a bout of glandular fever.
What are your hopes for British tennis in 2010? "Things have been going really well since I started working with Greg and my coach Tony Colom," said the British number four.
"I didn't expect to start the year winning matches after such a long time off but I'm obviously very happy so far, though I feel like I haven't really done anything yet.
"I've got a long way to go. I'd like to be playing ATP events week-in and week-out in the main draw. That's the goal."
Ward also defeated India's Karan Rastogi and Marsel Ilhan of Turkey in qualifying.
Both Ilhan and Okun are ranked higher than him.
The British number four is hoping a good run of form will put him in the reckoning for Britain's Davis Cup team to face Lithuania in March.
British number one Andy Murray has revealed he will not play in the tie, in order to allow younger players to gain experience in the competition.
Baltacha, meanwhile, was seeded fourth in her qualifying event and lived up to that billing with wins over Sharon Fichman, Severine Bremond-Beltrame and Dubois.
"It's fantastic to qualify here because the field is very, very strong this year," said the 26-year-old.
"Whenever you qualify it always fills you with confidence. I'm very, very chuffed."
Baltacha, who is also planning to enter qualifying in Hobart next week, will feature in the main draw at the Australian Open, alongside British number two Katie O'Brien.
The first Grand Slam of the year begins on 18 January.
