Elena Baltacha moves on to Eastbourne Quarter Finals

Sports Betting

Britain’s number one tennis player, Elena Baltacha, moved onto the third round of the WTA AEGON International at Eastbourne yesterday. After moving past Na Li in the first round after her opponent had to retire hurt, Baltacha continued her fine season, by taking out another Chinese tennis star, Jie Zheng. Both Na and Zheng reached the semi finals of the Australian Open Grand Slam at the start of the season, and now Baltacha has claimed both scalps of the Chinese women. Baltacha picked up her first WTA victory over a top ten seed when she beat Na Li at Indian Wells, and now she has another big feather in her cap, beating Zheng in three sets. Baltacha is in the last eight of the tournament on grass, which is the precursor to Wimbledon. Baltacha now faces Australian Samantha Stosur (7/2 at Stan James), who was tipped here to win the tournament as she is in great form. Stosur is ranked 7th in the World, and is the only seed left in Baltacha’s half of the draw, so there is huge incentive to move forward.

In the top half of the draw, only two seeds remain. Kim Clijsters (11/8 at Stan James) continues to look mightily impressive and could be worth an ante-post bet on her winning at Wimbledon. She has only dropped three games on her passage to the last eight. Now she faces her toughest task as she goes up against Victoria Azarenka (8/1 at Ladbrokes), who looks as if she is rediscovering her form at the right time as well. This is match worth keeping an eye on, as it will give good indications for the both of them heading to the Grand Slam. Azarenka is the real wild card in the pack, loaded with talent, fantastic to watch, but a bit self destructive. Italy’s Marion Bartoli (25/1 at Stan James) is the other seed left in the tournament, and she takes on Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (16/1 at Bet365) in her quarter final match, which is a tough one to call. So Elena Baltacha hopefully marches on, if she can claim her biggest ever victory.

Match Odds

Sam Stosur to win: 2/7 at William Hill
Elena Baltacha to win: 3/1 at Paddy Power