About Elena Baltacha
Elena Sergeevna Baltacha (Ukrainian: Олена Сергіївна Балтача; 14 August 1983 – 4 May 2014) was a Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, she was also a long-term British No. 1, a position she held intermittently from 2002 to 2012. However, as a result of her absence from competition due to knee surgery, she dropped down the world rankings and at the time of her retirement on 18 November 2013, she was ranked as the world No. 221 and British No. 6. Her career-high ranking of world No. 49 was achieved in September 2010. Over the course of her career, she won 11 ITF singles titles (five $25k, two $50k, two $75k, and two $100k) and four ITF doubles titles (all $25k). She was also a runner-up in three ITF events in singles and four in doubles. In 2010, Baltacha had victories over top 10-players, including two victories over Li Na (the second of which came via retirement) and one against Francesca Schiavone, who at the time was the reigning French Open champion. In 2011, Baltacha won her highest ranked tournament on the ITF Circuit, the Nottingham Challenge. Baltacha was diagnosed with liver cancer in January 2014, just a few weeks after her marriage to tennis coach Nino Severino. She died on 4 May 2014, aged 30. Baltacha played her first match on the ITF Junior Circuit in February 1997 and her last at the 2001 US Open junior tournament. She never won a title but reached the final of two junior tournaments, at the 14th Bahia Junior Cup and at the LTA International Junior Tournament, Bisham Abbey.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.