 Baltacha is 59th in the world rankings, with a career high of 52 |
British number one Elena Baltacha caused a major upset at the Istanbul Cup by knocking out top seed and French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. Baltacha beat the Italian world number eight 6-4 6-2 in the second round. Schiavone, 30, was troubled by poor serving but the win was the Scot's third top-10 scalp this season. "I'm really proud of today. I've had such a great year, it feels amazing and I'd like to think that this is the real Elena Baltacha," said the 26-year-old. "I'm beginning to perform much more consistently week in, week out and I'm improving a lot as a player. "I still have a few things to work on but I feel that every week I'm adding a lot of positives to my game."  | 606: DEBATE |
Baltacha, who is 59th in the world rankings, had struggled past Turkish wild-card Cagla Buyukakcay in the first round, eventually winning 7-5 7-6 (7-4) against the world number 196. However, she looked a different player against Schiavone, winning in one hour 25 minutes. "She served very well and played well at the most important moments," said Schiavone. "I didn't play so well so I'm a little bit upset, but it can happen." Baltacha will meet Germany's Andrea Petkovic, who is the tournament's sixth seed, in the quarter-finals at 1600 BST on Friday. "I'm going into my next match against Petkovic fighting as hard as I can, trying to play the best tennis I can," she added. "Petkovic plays very differently from Schiavone - she plays a much faster ball, she will attack more and has a faster serve. "I take it one match at a time and I'm really looking forward to Friday."
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