Baltacha made swift work of her opening match in Thailand

British number one Elena Baltacha is through to the last 16 of the Pattaya Open in Thailand after beating Nicha Lertpitaksinchai in straight sets.

Baltacha's power and precision were too much for the home wildcard as she broke six times on her way to a 6-2 6-3 win.

The 27-year-old Scot will now face Chinese sixth seed Shuai Peng.

"I was delighted to have come through my match today, especially after only arriving in Pattaya last night from Israel," said the world number 57.

"The heat and humidity warming up this afternoon before my match was tough, but once I got my match gear on and started preparing mentally for my match, I felt ready to go. I'm really looking forward to playing Peng."

Top seed Vera Zvonareva beat Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-4 6-2, while former world number one Ana Ivanovic beat Thai wild card Nudnida Luangnam 6-0 6-2.

The Serb, ranked 19th, now plays American veteran Jill Craybas, with home qualifier Nungnadda Wannasuk up next for Zvonareva in round two.

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