Elena Baltacha is motivated to play for two to three more years – Tennis News
Great Britain’s former number one, Elena Baltacha, has announced that she has no plans to retire anytime soon, vowing that she is motivated enough to play professional tennis for at least a couple of more years.
Baltacha has not participated in any event since losing to former world number one, Ana Ivanovic, in the second round of the London Olympics due to a foot injury. The British player had a surgery on her foot and is expected to
make comeback at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March.
In a recent interview, Baltacha said, "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 realise how exhausted I was."
Baltacha is a former top-50 player but now her ranking has dropped to 173. She used to be her country’s highest ranked female player for almost a decade but now she is at number five. However, the 29-year-old has vowed that she
would reclaim British number one ranking in the next couple of years.
The right-hander had three wins over top-10 players in 2010. She defeated China’s only Grand Slam winner, Li Na, twice and the French Open champion at that time, Francesca Schiavone. The British player has won 10 ITF singles and
four doubles titles in her career so far.
Baltacha added, "I'm not ruling anything out but I'm not going into it thinking, 'I have to be number one.' 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.”
The veteran player will face a tough task in her mission to become British number one, as she will have to overtake two young players, Heather Watson and Laura Robson. The world number 48, Watson, is currently Great Britain’s highest
ranked tennis player and Robson is on second position with a world ranking of 52.
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