Tennis: Baltacha exits early but remains an inspiration to British women

Going out in the second round can be seen as a notable achievement for Britain's injury-plagued No5 Elena Baltacha There were no tears this time from Elena Baltacha, only a furrowed brow and an apologetic wave to the crowd as she exited Court Two following a straight-set defeat to China's Zheng Jie. The crowd, to be fair, had done their bit. "Come on Elena," one male admirer urged after Zheng held serve on the first game of the match. "It's only one-nil." Soon, though, it was 4-0, and then 6-2. Baltacha twice threatened to fight back in the second set, breaking Zheng in the fourth and eighth games, but on both occasions she quickly dropped her own serve. In the end Zheng took the set 7-5, and the match in an hour and 11 minutes. Hopes had been high for Baltacha, Britain's No5, as she took on an opponent ranked two places... [read full story]