Former British number one Elena Baltacha has decided to take a break from competitive tennis to get over her illness and injury problems. |  I'm still young and six months isn't that long - it should help me play for another 10 years |
Baltacha will take six months off from the tennis tour to recuperate, and will benefit from a rule which allows players to have a protected ranking when they are injured. She was diagnosed with liver damage almost a year ago, and has also suffered from extreme tiredness and a series of illnesses including chicken pox, tonsillitis, flu and glandular fever.
Tests earlier this month after Wimbledon showed that Baltacha was born with her liver problems, but that they should not now get any worse.
The tests also showed that it was a bacteria and not her liver condition that was causing her to feel so tired.
"Once the germ is out you can live a normal life," Baltacha told this website. "But nothing can cure it.
"I already feel much stronger having not played for a month."
Baltacha's last match was in the first round at Wimbledon when she came very close to beating number 11 seed Jelena Dokic.
Although she has already felt the benefit of a break in her schedule, Baltacha said that she thought it was in her long-term interests to take the rest of the year off.
"I just needed a break and now I'm back and ready to go.
"I'm not going to compete for six months, I'm going to practise.
"I'll be back in January or February properly, but I'll probably start to play some Girobank events in November.
"I'm still young and six months isn't that long.
"It should help me have a career for another 10 years hopefully."
MMIX
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