England suffered another frustrating 2-1 defeat yesterday, only this time on the tennis courts of Eastbourne rather than the football pitches of Portugal.

British No. 1 Anne Keothavong was beaten in three sets by eighth seed Magdalena Maleeva from Bulgaria in the first round of the Direct Line Championships.

The 20-year-old Londoner copied Sven's men against the French by going ahead.

She took the first set before succumbing 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to the experienced Maleeva, whose ten tour victories included the DFS Classic on grass in Birmingham last year.

Keothavong's exit means Amanda Janes is the only British player left in the main draw.

The daughter of 1961 Wimbledon finalist Christine Truman faces 21-year-old Chinese qualifier Jie Zheng in the first round today for the right to play top seed Amelie Mauresmo.

Elena Baltacha, daughter of former Ipswich defender Sergei, took plenty of comfort from her run through to the final round of qualifying.

She lost yesterday to Cara Black 6-2, 7-6 following victories at the weekend against fellow Brit Jane O'Donoghue and Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Baltacha is playing her way back from a chronic liver condition which sidelined the young Scot for six months after she almost upset Jelena Dokic in the first round at Wimbledon last year.

"I'm just happy to be back," she said.

"I feel much healthier and fitter. I don't need any medication or anything like that. I have to be careful with alcohol but I have never really drunk anyway!"

Baltacha, whose world ranking has plummeted to 341 through her inactivity, was unfortunate to come up against Black, the world No. 82.

Although better known as a doubles player, Black grew up on four grass courts in the back yard of her home in Zimbabwe and won the junior title at Wimbledon in 1997.

Baltacha, who has been awarded a wild card for Wimbledon, said: "She played a very clever match and she was too good for me, but I've had a great week. I've beaten someone 59th in the world (Tanasugarn) and played some good tennis here.

"I have still got so much to learn and improve but this is going to give me such a confidence boost. I am really looking forward to my future."

Karolina Sprem caused the first upset. The Croatian knocked out sixth seed Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi from Israel 6-2, 6-4.