AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 18-31 January
BBC coverage: Every Murray match live on BBC 1 or 2
Daily from 0830 GMT: live on BBC Red Button/website, 5 Live sports extra
Daily from 0000 GMT: text commentary on BBC Sport website

British number one Elena Baltacha came through a tense encounter with Pauline Parmentier to triumph 6-4 3-6 7-5 and reach round two of the Australian Open.

Rain in Melbourne delayed the start of the match and the windy conditions gave both players problems throughout.

Baltacha was broken early in the deciding set but fought back despite cramp to win in an hour and 46 minutes.

Katie O'Brien's match against Austria's Patricia Mayr was called off because of rain and will take place on Tuesday.

Like Baltacha, O'Brien is up against an opponent ranked below her - with Mayr three places lower at number 90 in the world.

The physios were fantastic. They gave me ice and I got plenty of electrolytes. It calmed everything down. I'm just really delighted I came through Elena Baltacha

But she can take heart from a determined display by Baltacha, who overcame injury problems as well as the elements to triumph.

A solitary break was enough to give the world number 83 the first set, before Parmentier, ranked 105th, converted her first break point midway through the second set and held out to level the match.

With Baltacha, by now needing treatment on both calves, going a break down at the start of the third set, things looked bleak.

But the Scot dug in to break back and admitted afterwards that another rain delay helped her win through and set up a second-round clash with Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko.

The break in play allowed Baltacha to get attention from physiotherapists that she would otherwise have been denied because of new rules that prevent players from taking medical time-outs for cramp.

"Thankfully it started raining at 3-3 (in the third set)," she said.

"The physios were fantastic. They gave me ice and I got plenty of electrolytes. It calmed everything down. I'm just really delighted I came through."

Baltacha was relieved to cement her top 100 ranking and says she will go for broke against Bondarenko, the 30th seed.

"I knew if I didn't win a round here I was going to come straight out of the top 100. I now fully believe I'm a top 100, maybe a top 50.

"I have nothing to lose against Kateryna. She's a seed so I'll give it everything I have."

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