O'Brien and Baltacha began their clay-court season in Fes

British duo Katie O'Brien and Elena Baltacha tumbled out in the first round at Fes in Morocco on Tuesday.

Both players were making a rare appearance in the main draw of a WTA Grand Prix event.

O'Brien, ranked 115th in the world and Britain's number one women's player, was beaten 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-1 by France's Emilie Loit.

Baltacha, ranked 146th, took a 3-1 lead in the first set against Bulgaria's Sesil Karatantcheva but lost 7-5 6-2.

Karatantcheva thereby won her first WTA Tour match in nearly two and a half years.

After reaching the French Open quarter-finals at 15 in 2005, she tested positive twice for the steroid nandrolone.

The International Tennis Federation banned her for two years in January 2006, and this year she started on the satellite circuit without a ranking.

She won her first two events from qualifying and reached two more finals, earning a direct entry into Fez with her ranking at 243.