Elena Baltacha auction raises £110k for charities

Tennis star Elena Baltacha died at an Ipswich hospice from liver cancer in 2014, at the age of 30

More than £110,000 has been raised through a charity auction in memory of the late British number one tennis player Elena Baltacha.

The money will go towards a sports academy in Ipswich set up in honour of Baltacha, who died of cancer aged 30 in 2014, plus other charities.

More than 130 items were sold in the auction, including lots from Sir Andy Murray, Ed Sheeran and Emma Raducanu.

The highest selling item was signed Sir Cliff Richard memorabilia.

Judy Murray, one of the organisers of the Love All auction, said she was "so grateful to the tennis world for uniting" in support of the charities.

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Sir Cliff signed memorabilia spanning his career and handwritten lyrics to his first 1958 hit single Move It went for £8,600.

Two tennis racquets donated by US Open champion and current British women's number one Raducanu fetched £3,700 in total, while a racquet signed by Japanese tennis star Naomi Osak raised £5,100.

A racquet and a tube of tennis balls signed by Sir Andy sold for £2,000 and a Wimbledon 2022 Centre Court Experience went for £2,700.

Judy Murray, mother of Wimbledon title holders Sir Andy and Jamie Murray, said she wanted to thank "all of our amazing lot donors and our generous final bidders in helping to raise much-needed funds".

Memorabilia signed by Sir Cliff Richard, including his autobiography, went for £8,600

Two racquets donated by Emma Raducanu (pictured playing with the Duchess of Cambridge) raised £3,700

Baltacha was born in Ukraine, but moved to England as a child with her footballer father Sergei, who played for Ipswich Town between 1988 and 1990, before moving to St Johnstone, where she grew up, and was coached by Judy Murray.

She retired after the 2012 Olympics having suffered from a chronic liver condition since she was 19, and set up the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis in Ipswich which went out into local schools trying to encourage wider participation in the sport.

The £110,960 raised by the auction will go to the Elena Baltacha Foundation, which started after her death, and also to the Murray Play Foundation, set up by Judy Murray, for tennis programmes in disadvantaged communities around Dunblane in Scotland.

WTA Charities' Aceing Cancer campaign, The Queen's Club Foundation and Suffolk-based charity GeeWizz will also benefit.

The Elena Baltacha Foundation was set up after she died in 2014