Elena Baltacha was beaten 6-3 6-2 by fourth seed Na Li in the second round of the WTA Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen.
Seed Pironkova suffers first-round exit at hands of Russian
Elena Baltacha was knocked out in the second round of the WTA Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen, going down in straight sets to Na Li.
The British number one went into the contest having beaten the second seed from China twice last year.
However she failed to complete a hat-trick of triumphs, world number 11 Li coming out on top 6-3 6-2 after one hour and 14 minutes on court.
"I played her a few times this year, so I knew what to do," Li said afterwards. "I just tried to be aggressive on the court but still play safe, and that balance was the key today."
Germans progress
Next up for Li will be German Angelique Kerber, who defeated Sandra Zahlavova of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-2.
Fifth seed Julia Goerges also progressed, beating German compatriot Kristina Barrois 6-3 6-2, while seventh seed Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic crushed Germany's Tatjana Malek 6-0 6-3 in less than an hour.
However fourth seed Tsvetana Pironkova failed to make it out of the opening round of the tournament as she was defeated by Anna Lapushchenkova.
The fourth seed's post-Wimbledon struggles continued as she succumbed 6-4 6-1 to a player 74 places below her in the WTA Tour rankings.
Lapushchenkova's victory means she will face compatriot Anna Chakvetadze, who beat Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-4 7-6 (7-2), in the second round.
