British women's number one Elena Baltacha says she struggled to put this year's Wimbledon disaster behind her.

The 27-year-old recovered from a 2-6 7-5 6-3 first round defeat by Petra Martic at the All England Club to end the year as world number 55.

"I think the defeat affected me more after I left Wimbledon," she told BBC Look East.

"I knew that there were things there I had to overcome and I managed to do that and break into the top 50."

We've got to keep on working on the head, the head is such a big thing at that level Elena Baltacha's coach Nino Severino

Having crashed out at Wimbledon in June the Scot did not find her best form until the US Open in August, when she won her first ever main draw match at Flushing Meadows by beating, ironically, Martic.

"It was really strange because the girl I lost to at Wimbledon started this bad run for me," Baltacha added from her training base in her home town of Ipswich.

"Then I got her at the US Open, beat her, and that finished my bad run, so it was bizarre how it was this one player.

"But in a way, when I look back, I always think things happen for a reason."

Baltacha broke into the top 50 in September, climbing up to 49th, but has now slid back down to 55th.

Her coach, Nino Severino, believes Baltacha can improve on that ranking, as long as she continues to improve the mental side of her game.

"We've got to go to another level, it's as simple as that, you can't survive if you don't keep lifting up the levels," he said.

"It's building on what we achieved last year in terms of injury prevention, the injuries have stayed away, which means she can train really hard.

"We've got to keep on working on the head, the head is such a big thing at that level, when you look at the big players it's the mental side they have packaged up so well."

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