|
|
| 04 Jul 2001 | |
| Elena Baltacha survives a tough 3 setter |
By Eleanor Preston
Elena Baltacha is making a big hit at her home Grand Slam. The seventeen year old was born in the Ukraine but ever since her family settled in Scotland she has played for Great Britain and she is enjoying plenty of success in the Girls’ singles competition.
Elena, who received a wild card for the senior competition and though she was knocked out in the first round, she now has another crack at winning Wimbledon in the juniors event. On Wednesday she moved through to the quarter finals of the juniors competition after coming through a tough three setter against Matea Mezak, eventually beating her 36 76(6) 63. "She was a real fighter," said Elena. "It just shows how difficult it is, she’s ranked much lower than me but she plays really, really well. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about her in the future."
The British public have not enjoyed much success from their women players in recent years and Elena is seen by many as their best hope of ending the dry spell. The last British woman to hit the big time was Jo Durie, reached the top 5 of the world rankings in 1984, when Elena was just a year old. Durie’s coach, Alan Jones, is now working with Elena and will be hoping his magic touch can pay off again.
Elena says she loves playing in Britain as so far she has been making the most of the crowd’s support. "Because I’m British there are a lot of people backing me and it really does give you a lift," she says. She says she doesn’t mind all the attention either, despite the fact that she has been besieged by requests for interviews and photographs.
"The media stuff comes with the package," says Elena, "and I’ll have to learn to get used to it if I want to be a top player. It’s not a distraction because I know where I’m at and I know what I have to do."
Elena’s hopes of winning the Girls’ title were boosted when the top seed, Ashley Harkleroad was knocked out of the competition. Harkleroad, from the USA, was one of the favourites to win the title before she suffered a shock 6-3, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Barbora Strycova. At least Harkleroad wasn’t alone. On a day of shocks at Wimbledon, the top seed in the Boys event, Janko Tipsarevic was also beaten. He fell 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Australia’s Todd Reid.
^ Back to Top
|
