page_title: Elena Baltacha
section_title: 2013
hierarchical_section_title: Elena Baltacha / Career / 2013
caption_attribution_description: English: Elena Baltacha playing in the 2013 US Open qualifying round. This was her last grand slam appearance.
context_page_description: Elena Sergeevna Baltacha 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 eleven ITF singles titles and four ITF doubles titles. 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 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 2011 Aegon Nottingham Challenge.
  Baltacha was diagnosed with liver cancer in January 2014, just a few weeks after her marriage to tennis coach Niño Severino. She died on 4 May 2014, aged 30.
context_section_description: Baltacha's first tournament back after surgery was a $25k tournament in Pelham, Alabama, where she was a direct entrant into the main draw. She withdrew against Canada's Sharon Fichman in round one.
  An illness to Heather Watson meant that Baltacha made British Fed Cup World Group II play-off team to face Argentina. Baltacha replaced Johanna Konta to play one of the singles rubbers on the final day of the play-off. Laura Robson's defeat in the third rubber meant that Baltacha had to gain a victory over María Irigoyen. Baltacha lost in three sets, meaning that Great Britain would have to return to the Europe/Africa Group and attempt to qualify again next February.
  Baltacha was handed a wild card at the Brussels Open a week before Roland Garros. In the first round she surprisingly defeated Stefanie Vögele but lost to the seventh seeded Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets. At the French Open Baltacha used her protected rankings points to earn a place in the first round. She was beaten in straight sets by Marina Erakovic. Following this defeat, Baltacha was handed a wildcard to play at the Aegon Trophy, an ITF event in Nottingham, but again lost in the first round to sixth seed Vesna Dolonc.
  Baltacha reached her first final of 2013 at the Aegon Nottingham Challenge following an impressive straight-set victory over Italian Nastassja Burnett in the semifinals. She then beat the seventh seed Tadeja Majerič in the final in straight sets coming from behind in the first 2–5 down to claim her third title at Nottingham. Baltacha followed this success with a victory in the first round of the Aegon Classic against Czech qualifier Kristýna Plíšková. Baltacha was eliminated in the second round by Maria Kirilenko.
  Baltacha retired from professional tennis in November 2013.
caption: Baltacha at the 2013 US Open, her last Grand Slam appearance
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