Scotland’s Elena Baltacha is Britain’s most successful active tennis player.  In 2002 she made the third round of Wimbledon and the same stage in the 2005 Australian Open.  She has also won several ITF events and been British number one, reaching a career high of 106 in the world earlier this year.

Of Ukranian birth and part of a truly sporting family, (her Dad and brother both played professional football, her mother was an Olympic track and field athlete) her natural athletic prowess has allowed her to enjoy a successful career on the ladies professional tennis circuit.

Elena, now 25, grew up in Perth and is Scottish by nationality. Though it is difficult to guess her favourite football team - her USSR international Dad played for Scottish sides St Johnstone and Inverness Caley Thistle, while her brother graced Love Street with St Mirren! 

In The Winning Zone caught up with Elena to ask her a few questions about her career as a top sportswoman...

Q1. What are your long term ambitions for your tennis?

EB: My long term ambition is to fulfil my potential.  I can’t put a number on it but I believe I can achieve much more than what I have already.  Of course at the moment it’s to break the world’s top 100 mark and then to keep moving forwards from there.
 
Q2. What do you think is necessary to make that level of ambition a reality?

EB: If it’s about my personal ambitions, I have to keep doing what I believe is working for me and my game, keep working hard, keep improving on my weaknesses, but also to make my strengths even stronger.

You also have to be stubborn enough to know what’s the best thing for your body and your tennis, in terms of how much you train and what exercises you do.  And no matter what anyone says, you do it because you believe it’s what works best for you. And also you must have the hunger to work harder that anyone else on court and off court.
 
Q3. What have been the highlights of your career?

EB: Making the third round of two Grand Slams, (Wimbledon and the Australian Open) winning six ITF Singles Events and representing GB in the Fed Cup for the last seven years.
 
Q4. How would you describe life as a professional tennis player? Is it as glamorous as everyone thinks?

EB:  First of all I have to say that I am very privileged to have the opportunity of being a professional tennis player, not many people in the world will get this opportunity!

And I wouldn’t change it for anything.  The advantage is that you experience different cultures and meet lots of people, and I guess to a certain extend you have the freedom of being and doing what you want without having to clock in and clock out. 

I love the fact that I can pack my bag and a day later I’m on the other side of the world playing in a tennis tournament.

The down side is that you always carry some sort of niggle or injury. And unless you are at the very top of the rankings, financially it’s always a struggle to travel around to tournaments. Also, sometimes you will have to travel to places where you really wouldn’t want to go, just to try and pick up more ranking points to help improve your ranking!

But on the whole I love it and everything with it...the good and the bad!
 
Q5. What does Britain need to improve as a tennis nation? More facilities? More coaches?

EB: I don’t think we need any more facilities; we just need more kids playing the sport. Tennis is a very expensive sport and we need to make it much easier for kids to access tennis courts and sports equipment, like rackets, clothing etc.
 
 
Q6. What/Who inspired you to start playing tennis?

EB: To be honest nobody really inspired me to start up tennis.  It just happened to be that my Mum bought some plastic rackets and a swing ball and I loved it so much, my Mum took me to tennis lessons and the rest is history!
 
Q7. In your eyes what makes a good coach?

EB:  A good coach is someone who understands you as a person first and foremost, knows how you work best, knows when to push you and when not too.  Someone who is loyal and has integrity.
 
Q8. Who has been the most influential coach in your career and why?

EB:  I must admit over my career I have made a couple bad choices in picking the right coach for me, as it’s difficult to find the right person. I have been working with Nino Severino for the last year and a bit now and I have to thank him for everything he has done for me and everything he's taught me, I owe him a lot. 

I probably wouldn’t be playing anymore if it wasn’t for him! He's all of the above, he knows when to push me if I’m being lazy (which isn’t often but he knows) and when to just back off and let me deal with things myself.  His ideas are always new and fresh and he knows how and when to deliver them.
 
Q9. Would you consider a career as a coach?

EB:  When I’m not away competing I help coach some of the kids my coach looks after.  I want to give back some of my experiences to kids who really do want to be professional tennis players.  I really enjoy it and I think I will go into coaching afterwards.
 
 Q10. What tip(s) would you give to an up and coming coach?

EB:  I think sometimes coaches over complicate things; the simplest way is the best way!

RO
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