Elena Baltacha facts for kids
Elena Sergeevna Baltacha (14 August 1983 – 4 May 2014) was a British professional tennis player.
Baltacha was born in Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union to Olga and Sergei Pavlovich Baltacha. Her brother is Sergei Baltacha, Jr. She moved to the United Kingdom in 1989.
She was British No. 1 intermittently from 2002 to 2012. However, due to her absence from competition, due to knee surgery, she dropped down the world rankings and at the time of her retirement, on 18 November 2013, she was ranked as the world No. 221 and British No. 6. She was a four-time winner of the Aegon Award.
Baltacha was diagnosed with liver cancer in January 2014. She died of the disease three months later, aged 30.
Images for kids
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Baltacha winning her first match at the US Open and breaking into the top 50
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2011
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Baltacha at the 2013 US Open, her last Grand Slam appearance
