ELENA Baltacha has Olympic blood coursing through her veins.
Her father, Sergei, won a bronze medal on home soil as part of the Soviet Union football team in 1980, the same year her mother Olga declined to take part in the pentathlon and heptathlon because of her one-year-old son. So it is little wonder that being informed by Fed Cup captain Judy Murray last week that she was to receive a wild card for the singles should evoke strong emotions in the 28-year-old.
"My dad went to Moscow in 1980," said Baltacha, who had been stressing over losing her spot as British No 1 at precisely the wrong moment, when only one British woman was likely to qualify by right.
"He won bronze and that is amazing. The medal is kept in a safe place somewhere. My mum was going to go as well but my brother [Sergei junior] was one and couldn't go because at that time there were no babysitters and she couldn't leave anyone at home.
"So when my mum found out I had been selected she was driving and had to pull over. She's been stressing about it as well. She rang me up and said 'I'm so proud'. She was really tearful, but she's going to come down for it. It will be nice for her, because she missed out."
The joy of being part of a chosen elite in the next few weeks was only strengthened by the news that as illustrious a figure as David Beckham had failed to make the cut.
"A friend rang me up and said 'I can't believe he's not in the squad'," Baltacha said. "He travelled to try to promote it and everything. I think he should have been given a slot."
There is a chance that the Olympics will be Baltacha's last hurrah in professional tennis; the Kiev-born Scot mentioned that possibility 12 months ago and has since spoken only of taking things "week by week". A future in full-time coaching is an option, as the last two years have seen the successful launch of her own EBAT (the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis) in Ipswich. But, as difficult as her 6-0, 6-4 loss to reigning champion Petra Kvitova was, retirement now would seem premature.
"I don't feel like that any more," she said. "The thing is, you change your mind. If I'm still enjoying it and I'm looking after my injuries ... then why not? I actually love competing, more than I ever have."
Stewart Fisher
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