The tennis courts upon which the potential of Elena Baltacha was first spotted staged a charity event in her memory yesterday.
Players of all ages and abilities were invited to Perth Tennis Club to pay tribute to the former British No 1, who lost her battle with liver cancer last month.
Elena grew up in Perth when her father, Sergei, played for St Johnstone. She began her tennis career at the club and was a key member of its junior team.
Events were held across the country yesterday, under the Rally for Bally umbrella, in aid of the Elena Baltacha Foundation. They included charity doubles matches at Eastbourne, Queen’s Club and Birmingham.
Funds raised will be split between the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis in Ipswich.
Perth-raised Baltacha, universally known within the sport as Bally, set up the academy in 2010 to give girls from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to play tennis.
Martina Navratilova, who went through her own battle against breast cancer in 2010, called for the Rally to be made an annual event. She said: “Out of tragedy comes something good… I’d like to make this into an annual event and keep it going because she deserves that and the kids deserve it.”