Today's post will simply be a tribute to tennis player Elena Baltacha. A former British No. 1, Elena - or 'Bally', as her friends knew her - passed away this morning from liver cancer. She was just 30.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine, Elena moved to Scotland with her parents at the age of five. Her father, Sergei, was a professional footballer, and played for Ipswich Town, St. Johnstone, and Inverness CT.
At age nineteen. she was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic liver condition, which compromises the immune system. Despite this, Bally battled on to make a name for herself in tennis, and broke into the World's Top 50 in 2010. Elena retired from professional tennis in November of 2013, and married her coach, Nino Severino.
Two months later, she was diagnosed with liver cancer.
Bally's name will live on at the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis in Ipswich, which she launched in 2010 with her future husband.
No comments:
Post a Comment