Elena Baltacha's recovery from heatstroke aided by rain delay

The spectators hoping to catch a glimpse of Maria Sharapova in action were left cursing the weather after rain wrecked the programme at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, but not everyone was disappointed to see the dark clouds hovering above. Elena Baltacha, the British No1, admitted she was relieved to be given more time before she faces Kaia Kanepi of Estonia after she suffered from heatstroke following her victory at Nottingham on Saturday. After a day constantly interrupted by showers, Baltacha finally got on court just after 7pm but by the time she returned to her seat after inspecting the surface the covers were coming back on. In normal circumstances the 26-year-old would have been deeply frustrated to spend so much time waiting around, but instead she saw the benefit of having longer to build up her strength after spending a day and a half in bed. "To be honest I am quite glad [the match didn't start], especially with what has happened over the weekend," said Baltacha. "It gives me an extra day and a night to get stronger and come out tomorrow and give it a real crack. I ate a bit more today than I have been over the weekend. It will be important to stock up now. I am just relieved the rain came in when it did. It was a bit of a blessing, really. Tomorrow I will come out and be even better." Baltacha has had a liver complaint in the past but she claimed her problems at Nottingham were unrelated. "It's never happened to me before," she said. "I think it was the fact that we had to play two matches on the Friday. Also I ended up finishing the semi at 8pm and the final was at 12 o'clock [the next day] so I played three matches in a day and a half. Even after the final I felt fine but then that night it really shocked me. But I have never had it before and I don't think it is related to the liver problem." Anne Keothavong could get on court for her match against Pauline Parmentier either.