Baltacha eyes Wickmayer shock

(GETTY IMAGES)

British number one Elena Baltacha looked forward to the opportunity to cause another upset after she booked her place in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami with a 6-2 6-4 win over Iveta Benesova.

The 26-year-old, who needed to negotiate two qualifying rounds to reach the main draw, now faces world number 14 Yanina Wickmayer, and she is hoping for a repeat of her recent victory over Li Na in Indian Wells.

She said: "I like playing the big names. Why not?

"I'm playing well and I've got all the momentum because I've come through three tough matches in two sets and she hasn't played a match yet.

"I feel very confident. I've got absolutely nothing to lose so I'm just going to go out there and give it to her and see what I can do.

"It would be lovely to have another win."

Baltacha was particularly pleased with her focus in beating a player who, at number 59, is ranked three places above her.

"I knew going into the match not to take her lightly," said the Briton. "She's very talented, very gifted and she's very dangerous.

"I just went out there and I was so focused and so in the zone from the first ball to the last ball.

"It was quite bizarre that I was off that court that quickly."

A grieving Anne Keothavong made an early exit as she lost in straight sets to Austria's Tamira Paszek.

The 26-year-old from Middlesex admitted after losing 6-4 6-2 that her mind had not been on the game following the death of her grandmother on Tuesday.

"Tennis just didn't seem that important," she said.

The result followed on from Keothavong's first-round exit to Anna Chakvetadze in Indian Wells earlier this month.

Heather Watson also exited the Florida tournament as she suffered a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.

The Guernsey teenager matched her opponent in the opening set but failed to take the three break-point opportunities she created, with Pironkova taking her single chance to snatch the set 6-4.

And Watson could not match that effort as she lost the second set 6-2. Pironkova will now face world number two Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.