Elena Baltacha has passed away.

[Iona16]

Elena lost her battle with liver cancer. She was only 30 and had only recently got married. I know a lot of British tennis fans that had met her and they only had lovely things to say about her. May she rest in peace.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/27280549

The Rally Against Cancer – Rally for Bally, a charity event only recently announced to raise funds for Royal Marsden national cancer charity and the Elena Baltacha Foundation, will now be held in Baltacha’s memory. On 15 June, current and former tennis players including Andy Murray, Ross Hutchins, Martina Navratilova, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Anne Keothavong and Heather Watson will participate in mixed doubles matches at Queens, Eastbourne and Birmingham to commemorate Baltacha’s memory.

https://www.justgiving.com/rallyforbally/

 

[colleen66]

[split] Elena Baltacha has passed away.

So sorry to hear that Elena Baltacha has lost her battle to liver cancer. She was still in her prime.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

RE: WTA News and Gossip 2014

So sorry to hear that Elena Baltacha has lost her battle to liver cancer. She was still in her prime.

Just terrible news....RIP Elena Baltacha.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Just terrible news.RIP Elena Baltacha.

 

[Moxie]

That is incredibly sad news. Thanks for the information, Iona.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Very sad news indeed, not only for British Tennis fans but all Tennis fans all over the world.
30 is just too young.

 

[Kieran]

It's hard to believe, this is so sad...

 

[Front242]

Just saw the news on tennis.com. Very sad. So young to die and so soon after being diagnosed

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Sorry to hear the sad news. Did she know about her condition before retiring
and/or getting married?

 

[rubydo]

This has hit me pretty hard. I saw her play at Eastbourne last year against Maria Kirilenko, and the support she got from the crowd on court 2( an outside court) was very strong. I will be in Eastbourne on the Monday, June 16th as I get into London two days before and need a day to setup my train and bus passes and just sort a bit of jet lag out. If there is a place to show my respects to her at Eastbourne, I will take time out to do that. My relatives in the UK I am sure are aware of this too. So right Kiu, 30 is so young.

 

[Iona16]

Sorry to hear the sad news. Did she know about her condition before retiring
and/or getting married?

As a teenager, she was diagnosed with a chronic liver condition, known as primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), which had hampered her progress since her debut in 1997. She managed the condition - which attacks the immune system and can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and liver cancer - with regular blood tests and a daily cocktail of ten pills throughout her career.

She obviously knew the risk of liver cancer was high but she didn't know she was ill when she retired. She had been plagued with other injuries. Her diagnosis came only weeks after getting married to her long-term coach.

 

[rubydo]

I have a couple of pretty good pictures of Elena in action against Maria, would you like me to pass them along to you guys? Can send to Moxie629 and Tented. I can do that after I have posted them on my site.

 

[Moxie]

I have a couple of pretty good pictures of Elena in action against Maria, would you like me to pass them along to you guys? Can send to Moxie629 and Tented. I can do that after I have posted them on my site.

Please do. We can put something up. I'll send you a PM.

 

[RJD11]

RIP Elena .......You will be missed.

We all commiserate when one of our girls

is struck with a disease ...Venus, Kleybo, etal

and we rally behind them in their fight. and rejoice

when they return. But when we lose one its a whole

different thing. there is no coming back ....only the loss

 

[colleen66]

Sorry to hear the sad news. Did she know about her condition before retiring
and/or getting married?

She had been battling chronic liver disease since the age of 19. Her condition was treatable with medication and healthy life-choices. She retired due to ankle injuries and was diagnosed with liver cancer shortly after she retired and got married. This hits close to home for me because I lost my brother-in-law to liver cancer. He too had been living with chronic liver diease for a few years before he lost his battle.

 

[colleen66]

Shocking news such as this puts everything into perspective. Fans sometimes forget that our players are also people and tennis, when all is said and done, is only a game and a small part of life. The next time we want to rail against a player for supposed injuries and questionable withdrawls lets just take a deep breath and enjoy the game for what it is.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

That was a rapid succesion of events in her life. November - retirment, December - marriage
and January - diagnosis. Also, I did not know before she was born in Ukraine.

 

[Moose]

Got to meet her at Indian Wells in 2010 - she played Na Li in the 2nd round on a smaller side court, winning the match in a 3rd set tie break - it was a great match, and afterwards, she came over to thank my friend Danielle and I, who had been cheering her. Pleasant as could be, took time for some chat and pictures. I always had a soft spot for her following this.

So sad to hear of her passing, my prayers to her family.

 

[britbox]

Very sad news and kind of shocked how quickly it happened.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

So sad indeed. Such a young age ...Condolences to her family and the tennis world.