Baltacha excited to be facing up to Kuznetsova

British No 1 Elena Baltacha says she is excited about the prospect of meeting former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round at Flushing Meadows.

The Scot, ranked 58th in the world, progressed with a first-round victory over American wild card Jamie Hampton, who retired in dramatic circumstances when she collapsed on the baseline with Baltacha winning 2-6, 6-2, 5-1.

Next up is Kuznetsova, the Russian 15th seed who won this tournament in 2004 and clinched a second grand slam title when she triumphed in the 2009 French Open. It’s a stern test for Baltacha, but the Scot said she was relishing the challenge: “It’s a great opportunity for me. I know I’ll have to play really well, but I’m up for it. I’m going to go out there and give it the fist pumps and the ‘come ons’ and we’ll see what happens.”

Laura Robson’s US Open run ended in the second round yesterday with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat by 30th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues. The 17-year-old had come through qualifying and beat Ayumi Morita in round one, leading the Japanese by a set and a break when her opponent retired.

She was playing in the second round of a grand slam for the second time after also reaching that stage at Wimbledon – but she found Spaniard Medina Garrigues just too consistent today.

Robson begin solidly, powering serves and forehands past her experienced rival, but Medina Garrigues’ speed around the court and excellent defence began to frustrate the teenager.

She was broken in the fifth game and then again in the seventh before Medina Garrigues clinched the set with an ace.

Robson showed the qualities which helped her win the Wimbledon junior title throughout, hitting 20 winners to her opponent’s nine but, unfortunately, there were also 32 unforced errors and that was, in the end, what cost her.