Just heard the terribly sad news that Elena Baltacha has succumbed to her battle with cancer at the tender age of 30. I followed her career as it always puts a smile on my face to see men and women associated with Suffolk achieving in any pursuit and I know she has done a lot for grass roots tennis back home. I was lucky enough to meet her father who attended one of our games as junior players and my heart goes out to her parents, husband Niño and all of her family. She was a stunning lady as well as a majestic sportswoman and it's an honour for our region to have been associated with her. A fundraiser called the Rally for Bally is to be held next month featuring a raft of top tennis pros past and present, if we are able to make a small contribution that will be a wonderful way to try to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future and to pay our respects. RIP Bally
Fine post Hampy, how terribly sad to lose such an enormously young talented sportswoman! I played a lot of tennis in Suffolk in my younger years and they do have a rich seam of talent it seems. I go back to being lucky enough to see Virginia Wade pulling the nations agonising heart-strings! Bally will be sorely missed by all those in and around the game.
