Henin stays on track at Open

Melbourne - Former world number one Justine Henin beat Britain's Elena Baltacha 6-1, 6-3 to move into the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The 11th seed, who took the title in 2004 and was runner-up in 2006 and last year, dominated the first set but had to work harder in the second to see off the 55th-ranked Baltacha in 61 minutes.

Henin opened the match in style as she broke Baltacha in the first game then held for a 2-0 lead. Baltacha held her next serve but was broken twice more as the Belgian wrapped up the first set with ease.

The second set was much closer as Baltacha settled her nerves, but serving at 3-4 the Englishwoman stumbled as Henin attacked, breaking her opponent to open a 5-3 lead.

Henin faltered briefly while serving for the match, giving Baltacha two break back points, but she saved both then fired down two aces to move into a third-round clash against either Svetlana Kuznetsova or Arantxa Rus.

"I have almost only good memories of playing in Melbourne," said Henin, whose comeback from retirement was derailed by an elbow injury last year.

"I have been fighting (injury) a lot over the last few months so it is just a joy to be back on court."