The antidote to the ills pervading British tennis was discovered in a far-off desert oasis last night. Elena Baltacha, who has been through so much and endured it all with a determination to make the most of her career, defeated a top ten player for the first time in her life.
Baltacha's 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 victory over Li Na of China, a semi-finalist at the Australian Open five weeks ago, was the finest she has produced and marked a moment for all of the game to cherish. Six days from the debacle of Lithuania, when the Davis Cup team was beaten and chastened, the British No 1 woman player produced a performance in keeping with the blue skies all around.
Into the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters, where she now meets the unseeded Alicia Molik of Australia who is putting her own career back together, Baltacha was rightly thrilled with her performance. From 5-1 down in the final set tie-break, she survived three match points to the No 7 seed and on Baltacha's first, the Chinese player laced a backhand into the sidelines. At no time did defeat cross Baltacha's mind; she never took a backward step. This was a victory that resonated with heart, determination and unquenchable belief. It was Li who double-faulted on her third match point; the nerves tightened, she struck a forehand into the net and then missed that last backhand.
One doubts that victory ever tasted sweeter for the 26-year-old Baltacha. From the moment she stepped out to play this year, at No 87 in the world, she has refused to look back and feel sorry for all the times when she might have been forced to stop playing altogether. She knows the list better than anyone - the severe illnesses, the aches and strains, the ankle and the back problems and it is as if the gifts she has deserved are being showered in her direction all at onceHaving qualified for this championship, she has gone on to win two matches in three sets, to become the first British player in 15 years to win back-to-back main draw matches in an event of this magnitude. The last time a British woman had beaten a top ten opponent was at Wimbledon in 1998 when Sam Smith defeated the 1994 champion Conchita Martinez in the third round (Martinez was in attendance at the tournament here yesterday, just to add a further touch of piquancy).
Li could have won the first set, but missed backhands on her two set points in the twelfth game and made two errors off the same flank in the tie-break that surrendered the initiative. At the end of the first set, Baltacha took the opportunity to call Nino Severino, her coach, onto court for a few words of wisdom. Li declined the chance to summon Thomas Hogstedt, the Swede, and when he shouted out a few words to her as she walked back to re-start, the umpire warned Li for coaching. You could not make it up.
When she stumbled her way through the second set, it did not look particularly encouraging for the British No 1 and, having lost her first service game in the third, a swift departure appeared the likeliest outcome. But Baltacha is a battler - she immediately recovered that break and gave as good as she got from the back of the court in a final set of real intensity and classic hitting as the sun dipped over the horizon and the lights flickered on.
The tie-break was Li's to win when she struck a couple of glorious backhand winners down the line to lead 5-1. Baltacha willed herself to hang in, she struck two passes herself and on Li's first match point, the depth she found, her refusal to take a step back, brought her back from the brink. It was a stunning victory, and her embrace with Severino at its end spoke volumes for the work he has done to help piece her career back together.
Baltacha said: "When I broke into the world's top 100 in September last year, I felt like I really belong, and that was a defining moment. I'm not struggling with anything major, I'm practising hard, I'm feeling confident and that all helps. When you are playing the better girls more often, you are seeing a more consistent, faster ball and unless you adapt to that, you aren't going to survive. I have stuck in there, I think playing three matches already in the event helped but I felt from 4-4 in the final set that I was the one in charge of the match. It took abut ten seconds for me to realise she had missed that last backhand but of course I'm elated. I'm playing as well as I've ever played and I'm really excited about my prospects."
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