Elena Baltacha Thinking About Coming Back To Play The Tour

Written by: Resendiz on 8th March 2013

Elena Baltacha Thinking About Coming Back To Play The Tour

epa03202743 British player Elena Baltacha in action against Russia's Maria Kirilenko during their first round match of the Estoril Open 2012 tennis tournament at Jamor complex in Oeiras, Portugal, 01 May 2012. Kirilenko won 7-6(6) and 6-1. EPA/JOSE SENA GOULAO |

Britain’s former no.1 Elena Baltacha, sidelined since the Olympics because of foot surgery and now down to no.192 on the WTA rankings believes she can once again overtake the pair of British youngsters Heather Watson and Laura Robson even though she will turn 30 years of age in six months’ time.

“I don’t see why not. I wouldn’t rule it out. I think it’s amazing what is happening in British women’s tennis. We have some very good girls. But that’s not one of the reasons I’m coming back. I feel like I didn’t finish my career the way I wanted to.”

Baltacha revealed accompanying a 16-year-old from her academy in the east of England to a minor tournament in Egypt provided the impetus for a comeback. “Seeing the game from a different angle was amazing,” she said. “I was pretty much retired, had no ambition to go back to the tour. But then, all the things I was saying to this girl, I felt I was actually saying them to myself.

She added: “I think sometimes players who are in my situation need to take a little bit of time off. Of course you’re thinking of the next tournament, of protecting your rankings points but there’s a bigger picture.

“I had got into a rut, where you go through the motions, and you lose that little bit of focus and direction. At first you think, ‘I’ll just plod through it,’ but all the time you’re losing a bit of heart and a bit of love for the sport. In a funny sort of way, the last seven months have been the best of my entire tennis career.

“I’ll be 30 this year, I could play for four or five more years if I got myself in incredible shape. I had been going for 10 years but to have that bit of time off, it really made me realize what I want to do.

It sounds silly but being at home for Christmas for once, having my own Christmas tree, going out on New Year’s Eve and having a great night – these are things I have wanted to do for years. Now I really feel like I’m missing the tour again – and that’s how you want it to be.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: British tennis news, Elena Baltacha, Heather Watson, Laura Robson, Sports, Tennis, Wta