Elena Baltacha: Former British tennis number one's career in pictures
- Published
"A shining light has been lost," said a Lawn Tennis Association spokesman after the death of former British number one Elena Baltacha aged 30 from liver cancer
Born in Ukraine and raised in Scotland, Baltacha was British number one intermittently between 2002 and 2012 and became a familiar face at Wimbledon
Widely known by her nickname Bally, she reached a career high world ranking of 49 in September 2010
She won 11 International Tennis Federation titles including the Aegon Trophy in Nottingham in 2010 without dropping a set
Baltacha (centre) and her Fed Cup team-mate Anne Keothavong meet the Queen at Wimbledon in 2010
Baltacha was just 19 years old when she diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic liver condition which compromises the immune system
Despite her illness and multiple injury problems, Baltacha went on to reach the Australian Open third round in 2005 and 2010, and Wimbledon's third round in 2002
Baltacha became part of Judy Murray’s promising group of young Scottish players, which included not only Murray's own sons Andy and Jamie, but the likes of Colin Fleming and Jamie Baker
Baltacha made her Fed Cup debut for Great Britain in 2002 and had an impressive win-loss record of 33-16
The Lawn Tennis Association announced in April that they would be staging a fundraising “Rally for Bally” similar to Ross Hutchins’s successful “Rally Against Cancer” at Queen’s Club last year
Baltacha (second right) played her final Fed Cup match against Argentina in 2013 and retired from the sport later in the year after marrying her former coach Nino Severino
Current women's British number one Laura Robson paid tribute to her friend and former Fed Cup team-mate, when she tweeted: "Impossibly sad. Forever a team-mate. Sweet dreams Bally"