AS WE REMEMBER BALLY, A TRIBUTE BY BRITISH JOURNALIST ROS SATAR

Written by: Global Chick on 16th June 2015

Francisco Resendiz of 10sBalls.com presents Nino Severino with Commemorative Charity Trophy for Elena Baltacha Foundation on day seven of the WTA Aegon Open Nottingham at Nottingham Tennis Centre on June 14, 2015 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Jon Buckle/Getty Images for LTA) |

“Ana Konjuh kisses The Elena Baltacha Trophy after winning her first @WTA title at #AegonOpen #Nottingham!” – Photo by @britishtennis via Instagram.

Rally for Bally. Thank you Eleanor Preston, as well as the media team at Nottingham for pulling it all together.

As We Remember Bally

After the rain clouds lifted in Nottingham, it was fitting that a young and exciting player Ana Konjuh made her mark in winning her first WTA Tour title on a Monday morning final. She graciously accepted the newly commissioned Elena Baltacha Trophy for the inaugural WTA International Aegon Open, recognising the extraordinary life of the former No. 1 Brit who sadly lost her battle with liver cancer a year ago.

Nottingham had been a good place for Bally, reaching three ITF finals on that surface and it was where she won her last title in 2013. The LTA took the unprecedented step of naming a trophy after a player on the one-year anniversary of her passing, on May 4 2014, aged just 30.

Elena’s husband, Nino Severino, said: “The loss of our darling Bally is a heartbreak that will never go away. It’s very touching that the British Tennis family is remembering her this way. We’re all working together to keep her legacy alive through the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis and getting more kids of all backgrounds playing tennis.”

It was a day I remember – having woken up in Madrid for the first day of that tournament. I remember doing what I always do, quickly flicking through my mobile, checking twitter and actually rubbed my eyes in disbelief. I had been stunned at the announcement of her cancer diagnosis and for a few moments I thought that this was some awful twitter scheduling mistake on the part of the BBC.

Then I realised it was not some terrible typo, but real. Among the handful of British journalists that were in Madrid that week, the atmosphere was understandably muted that morning. Plans were underway for quick reaction pieces to camera for the BBC website, and for a moment of silence to be held on court at some stage that day.

Twitter tributes started to come in thick and fast as Madrid is one of the WTA’s Premier tournaments and some of the world’s best women were there. Listening to some of the pieces, you got a sense of just how much of an impact Bally had on the tour. The ceremony on court consisted of over 50 players and officials, led by Andy and Jamie Murray, and was incredibly moving.

It reminds me of the first Slam I covered, where she made her comeback after injury on a protected ranking at Roland Garros. She came out fighting, for sure, but lost to New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic, and I duly joined the rest of the Brit press to hear her press conference. Honestly, if you had not watched the match, you would think that she had won, she was so effervescent at the thrill of playing once more.

She joked about how her fellow players had been all “wow, where have you been” and how she should have told them something outrageous like she’d been off having a baby to see how quickly the rumour mill would whirl.

I wrote my piece for Tennis Panorama News that day, and being newly qualified as a fully-fledged and card-carrying journo, I cheekily tweeted it to her, and received a re-tweet and thanks which was a good boost for a newbie. When I saw her again at Eastbourne a few weeks later, I took a moment to thank her and received a cheery but earnestly heart-felt acknowledgement in return.

10sballs editor Francisco Resendiz also spoke about the enduring charm that Bally had, and how she was regarded by all, when he presented the Gussy Moran Humanitarian Award on Sunday.

“The award is very prestigious and Elena was one of the very first players we ever put a 10sballs.com patch on,” he said. “She was a great person and all the coaches and the players that knew her said she was a great competitor and a phenomenal person in general.

“We wanted to promote tennis as much as possible and what the Elena Baltacha Foundation is doing is working with the girls. We thought why don’t we give Elena’s husband, Nino, the award on her behalf. We emailed him and he was very, very, grateful for that.

“We told him we had a second gift for him which was $5,000 to go to her foundation. Knowing Elena, knowing Nino and the connection to 10sballs.com – she was the ideal candidate.”

Thinking back to the end of that day at the French Open, heading back to the hotel in the shuttles, I chatted to the BBC’s Russell Fuller about just how remarkable she had been. He agreed and said that she’d outlive us all. How I wished that could have been true, that day.

Sven Groeneveld on Elena “Bally” Baltacha:

“Throughout my entire coaching career I have seen very few players with such a passionate heart and as fearless competitive spirit as Elena Baltacha. You knew when you would face her as one of your players competition that she would leave no stone unturned and dig deep to give her absolute best and walk off the court without regrets!”

To read more on Elena Baltacha, click on the link below:

http://m.nottinghampost.com/Elena-Baltacha-s-widower-receives-prestigious/story-26695459-detail/story.html

Topics: 10sballs.com, Aegon Open, Ana Konjuh, Elena Baltacha, Francisco Resendiz, Nino Severino, Nottingham, Ros Satar, Tennis News, The Elena Baltacha Trophy, Wta

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10sBalls_com says:

June 16, 2015 at 11:27 am

AS WE REMEMBER #BALLY, A TRIBUTE BY BRITISH JOURNALIST ROS SATAR- http://t.co/hXQo3cm8l0 #Nottingham #WTA #ElenaBaltacha @ElenaFoundation
ElenaFoundation says:

June 17, 2015 at 12:50 am

RT @10sBalls_com: AS WE REMEMBER #BALLY, A TRIBUTE BY BRITISH JOURNALIST ROS SATAR- http://t.co/hXQo3cm8l0 #Nottingham #WTA #ElenaBaltacha …
maureensole1 says:

June 17, 2015 at 12:51 am

RT @10sBalls_com: AS WE REMEMBER #BALLY, A TRIBUTE BY BRITISH JOURNALIST ROS SATAR- http://t.co/hXQo3cm8l0 #Nottingham #WTA #ElenaBaltacha …
ElenaFoundation says:

June 17, 2015 at 12:52 am

As we remember Bally: A lovely article, thank you! http://t.co/sSW74u0HCZ
KateProPhoto says:

June 17, 2015 at 1:24 am

RT @ElenaFoundation: As we remember Bally: A lovely article, thank you! http://t.co/sSW74u0HCZ
DanKing_1974 says:

June 17, 2015 at 1:55 am

RT @ElenaFoundation: As we remember Bally: A lovely article, thank you! http://t.co/sSW74u0HCZ