Elena Baltacha bowed out of the Australian Open in the third round after a heavy defeat by 15th seed Silvia Farina Elia. The British qualifier was outclassed 6-1 6-0 by her Italian opponent.
Baltacha beat higher-ranked players in rounds one and two but world number 19 Farina Elia, playing in her 50th Grand Slam event, proved a step too far.
The 21-year-old Briton committed 32 errors and dropped serve six times in a match lasting less than an hour.
She later admitted she had been taught a lesson by Farina Elia.
"I got my arse kicked and that's the only way I am going to improve," she said.
 |  Whatever I threw at her she got |
"I knew it was going to be really tough but I didn't know how well she was going to play.
"Whatever I threw at her she got. The games were tight but she was just too good - but that is the level I want to get to."
Farina Elia goes on to play the winner of a later match between Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and China's Li Na.
Meanwhile, Baltacha has the consolation of picking up �18,800 in prize money - almost as much as she won in the whole of 2004.
The British number one will also move inside the world's top 130 for the first time in her career.
MMIX
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