WREXHAM Tennis Academy ace Lisa Whybourn won huge praise from Elena Baltacha after she gave the British number two a major fright at the one of the UK’s biggest women’s events.
Whybourn’s run at the $75k AEGON Pro-Series tournament in Shrewsbury came to an end after she lost 6-3, 6-3 to the Kiev-born Scottish star.
But 26-year-old Baltacha – who as well being second in the British women’s rankings is also up to a career-high 101st in the world – admitted she had to dig deep to overcome her inexperienced 18-year-old opponent.
She said: “I think what really surprised me was how well she started and I really had to up my game. I was actually waiting for her to fall behind, but she didn’t and I had to stay consistent and play a good game. I’m really happy that I managed to get through it as it could have been a really uncomfortable match.
“It’s quite difficult playing the juniors as they’re not worried, nervous or anxious. I was one of them once and they just go out and play loosely and pretty much play above their standard and they’re very dangerous.
“With players like Lisa it’s hard to keep them down so I did try giving Lisa a few looks and glares, which you have to do, as otherwise if you give them any opportunities they’re going to take it.”
Whybourn, who is from Cambridge, came through the qualifying rounds without dropping a set as she defeated fellow Brits Lauren Townrow and Nicola George before producing a tremendous display to sweep aside qualifying top seed Nika Ozegovic from Croatia.
The rising star continued her rich vein of form in the main draw by getting the better of another highly-rated Brit, Stephanie Cornish, before going down fighting in the second round to Baltacha.
Whybourn said: “I thought I played really well and so I’m really pleased. I had some real opportunities but her experience and her physical attributes got her through. She was exceptionally strong and mentally tough throughout.
“I've never played anybody with as high a ranking as Elena. It was a great experience and now my coach can compare me with somebody of her level and I can see now where I want to be when I’m her age so it was a great learning experience.”
