Bally’s blog – Elena Baltacha blogs from New York

Written by: Elena Baltacha on 28th August 2010

Bally's blog - Elena Baltacha blogs from New York |

Hi Everyone

Firstly I just want to say how really excited I am to be part of 10sballs.com. Xavier Malisse and I are really pleased to get such great support from you guys and to be part of something like this, which is all about getting the fans at home close to the action.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I’m currently ranked 54 in the world, I’m 27 years old and I’m the No.1 player in Great Britain right now, which is something I’m very proud of. For a player like me, just being ranked high enough to be a direct acceptance into the main draw of a tournament like the US Open is a big achievement and it means that all the hard work I’ve put in to get my ranking up is paying off. Now I’ve got to make the most of it when I play Petra Martic in the first round on Monday.

I played Martic at Wimbledon and got myself into a winning position before I got a little bit tight and the match got away from me. When that happens to a tennis player, and you lose a match from a winning position, it’s one of the hardest things to take so I’ll be incredibly motivated to try and finish the job I started back home. It won’t be easy, though, because I know better than anyone how dangerous Petra can be and she’ll have got a bit of extra confidence from that win.

I’ve been coming to the US Open since 2001 when I was fresh out of the juniors, but this is the first time I’ve actually been in the main draw and it’s such a good feeling. Everything is different when you’re main draw because you can just go about your business without any of the tension and the worry of trying to qualify. I’ve been practicing alongside qualifiers on court all this week and they were all getting upset because it was raining, and anxious to get on court and you could see the tension on their faces. I could just relax, knowing that I didn’t have to play a match for a good few days. The little perks that you get are great too, like being able to get your own courtesy car to the courts instead of having to get the official shuttle bus with everyone else. Even the number of guests you can have – it’s all these little things make you feel like you belong.

It’s not like I have a massive entourage like the Williams sisters or some other top players but it’s nice to have my little team around me. I’ve got my coach, Nino Severino, who travels with me all the time and who has helped me so much that I definitely wouldn’t be here without him, plus Eleanor Preston, who helps with my media and also writes for 10sballs.com, and my hitting partner Matt Hough has just flown out to join us. We’ve been having a great time in New York, especially as we’re staying right at the heart of things near Times Square.

Last night we went to see a show on Broadway called “Come Fly Away”, which was a dance show set to the music of Frank Sinatra. It was really good and some of the dancers were incredible athletes and graceful too so that was pretty awe-inspiring. I love how vibrant New York is and it’s definitely one of my favourite cities. I hope I get to stay here a lot longer!

Bally X

Here are some pictures of me in New York http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elena-Baltacha/122181684792?v=photos&ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=199297&id=122181684792

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/elenabaltacha

Topics: Bally, Blog, Blogs, Confidence, Elena Baltacha, Extra, Faces, Few Days, Great Britain, Job, Juniors, Little Bit, Martic, Match, Tennis Player, Tension, Wimbledon, Worry, Xavier Malisse