Baltacha Plans To Play Two More Years

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 18th December 2012

Baltacha Plans To Play Two More Years

epa03286742 Elena Baltacha of Britain returns to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 28 June 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Britain ’s long-time no.1 ranked women’s player Elena Baltacha admitted she needed an extended term of reassessment after the Olympic Games to see if she really wanted to continue the grind of WTA life. But the 29 year-old, now overtaken on the rankings by the youthful duo of Heather Watson and Laura Robson, has decided she can play for two more years.

Baltacha has not played since the Olympics in August and underwent foot surgery two months later. Consequently she has slipped to 173 in the world rankings but has the comfort of a protected ranking of 103m and therefore gains entrance into the Australian Open qualifying rounds.

After many weeks of contemplation, while working with her tennis academy in Ipswich, Suffolk , Baltacha admitted: “”My motivation to come back is that I think I’ve still got two or three more years.

“I don’t think having that last match at the Olympics against Ana Ivanovic was the right time to pack it in. To be honest, I really needed that break. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was, mentally and emotionally, and I hit a wall.

“Having the six months off, doing a bit of coaching with the Elena Baltacha Academy of girls, really made me see where I fell short as a player. Not seeing it as a player but as a coach, allowed me to recognize where I struggled as a player and what I needed to do.”

Now Baltacha is even optimistic about pulling back ground and perhaps overtaking Watson and Robson who currently sit in 49th and 53rd positions on the WTA singles rankings respectively.

“I think anything is possible and I’m not ruling anything out but I’m not going into it thinking, ‘I have to be number one’,” maintained Baltacha.

“If I come back and I’m not, I’m still going to be very happy with what I’ve achieved – being top 50 two years on the trot, all my top-10 wins – I will always be very, very proud of what I achieved.

“If it doesn’t happen then that’s just the way it is, but if I do, absolutely fantastic.”