Baltacha moved to a career high world ranking of 62 on Monday

British number one Elena Baltacha and Katie O'Brien both moved a step closer to the main draw in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami after respective wins.

The Scot, who also reached a career high world ranking of 62 on Monday, beat American Julie Ditty 6-4 6-4 in the first round of qualifying.

O'Brien beat American wildcard Christina Mchale 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

She now plays Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands, while Baltacha faces Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei.

Baltacha described the late evening conditions as "freezing," and looking ahead to her match with 14th seed Chan she said on her Twitter page: "It's a toughy, I will have to play well."

O'Brien did not take to the court until close to midnight and after overcoming Mchale she said: "After being on court until after 1.10am there was no way I was finishing on the losing end!"

Should the British pair make it to the main draw they will join fellow Brits Anne Keothavong and teenager Heather Watson, who received a wildcard.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version