Elena Baltacha

Who is Elena Baltacha?

Elena Sergeevna Baltacha is a former British professional tennis player of Ukrainian background. Being a four-time winner of the Aegon Award, she was also a long-term British No. 1, a position she held 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. Her career high ranking of World No. 49 was achieved in September 2010.

Over the course of her career she has won eleven ITF singles titles and four ITF doubles titles. She has also been a runner-up in three ITF events in singles and four in doubles.

In 2010, Baltacha had victories over top 10 players, including two victories over Li Na and one against Francesca Schiavone, who at the time was the reigning French Open champion. In 2011 Baltacha won her most highly ranked tournament on the ITF tour, winning the 2011 Aegon Nottingham Challenge.