Professional Tennis Player. England's top-ranked competitor over much of her career, she is remembered for winning a number of singles and doubles titles. The child of an athletic family, she followed her father's football (soccer) career, moving to England at five and thence to Scotland, where she was to finish her education, a year later. A noted tennis performer from her early teens, Bally turned professional and joined the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior circuit in 1997, then graduated to senior play in November of that year. In July of 2002, at Felixstowe, she took her first ITF singles title and was to add 10 more, along with four doubles crowns, over the next decade. Diagnosed with primary sclerosing colangitis, a chronic and progressive liver disease that leads to fatigue and lowered immune response, at 19, she kept performing at a high level. Long England's #1 player and a mainstay of its Federation Cup team, her highest world ranking at #49 was achieved in September of 2010; Bally was to reach the third round in Grand Slam events on three occasions, once at Wimbledon and twice in Australia. She ran a tennis school, played for England in the 2012 London Olympiad, and in June of 2013, at Nottingham, won her final ITF singles crown, but by November of that year she was forced to retire due to knee and ankle problems. Bally died of liver cancer, a result of her chronic disease, which had been diagnosed on a routine scan in January 2014.
Professional Tennis Player. England's top-ranked competitor over much of her career, she is remembered for winning a number of singles and doubles titles. The child of an athletic family, she followed her father's football (soccer) career, moving to England at five and thence to Scotland, where she was to finish her education, a year later. A noted tennis performer from her early teens, Bally turned professional and joined the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior circuit in 1997, then graduated to senior play in November of that year. In July of 2002, at Felixstowe, she took her first ITF singles title and was to add 10 more, along with four doubles crowns, over the next decade. Diagnosed with primary sclerosing colangitis, a chronic and progressive liver disease that leads to fatigue and lowered immune response, at 19, she kept performing at a high level. Long England's #1 player and a mainstay of its Federation Cup team, her highest world ranking at #49 was achieved in September of 2010; Bally was to reach the third round in Grand Slam events on three occasions, once at Wimbledon and twice in Australia. She ran a tennis school, played for England in the 2012 London Olympiad, and in June of 2013, at Nottingham, won her final ITF singles crown, but by November of that year she was forced to retire due to knee and ankle problems. Bally died of liver cancer, a result of her chronic disease, which had been diagnosed on a routine scan in January 2014.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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