Elena Baltacha does not have a coach in the accepted sense of the word. Nino Severino describes himself as a “project manager” and the aspiration is to make the utmost of what is left of the 26-year-old’s career that has had more stops and starts than the lights at the top of Regent Street.
So far, in this Australian Open, the two British No 1s have forfeited a single set in four matches. Andy Murray completed his second straight-sets victory, a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 cruise against Marc Gicquel, which means that he will meet Florent Serra, another Frenchman, in the third round and, quite possibly, a third in succession, Ga?l Monfils, in the last 16.
Baltacha’s 6-2, 7-5 thumping of Kateryna Bondarenko, the No 30 seed from Ukraine, leaves her with the fascinating prospect of a duel with Dinara Safina, the world No 2 from Russia, to come next. Baltacha should not reflect too long on the last time Safina met a British No 1 in a grand-slam tournament, last year’s French Open, when Anne Keothavong was dispatched without a game to her name.
Baltacha’s motto, though, is: “Do not dwell on the past.” The thought of liver illness, back surgeries and recent tinkering with ideas of retirement is too raw. “It is not me any more, so why should I keep on thinking about that girl?” she said.
Move on, move up, and who knows what Baltacha might achieve. In that, Severino has proved to be her rock, the pair having met when she trained at the Hazelwood club in Enfield, North London, and have established their own close, professional partnership, based in Ipswich.
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Severino will not be party to negative influences getting in the way of what he has carefully planned for Baltacha. “It’s about doing what we can to secure the future for Bally, putting down realistic expectations and keeping her away from people who might mess with her mind because we don’t have all that much time to play with from her career standpoint,” he said. “She’s not 16, after all.
“I vet people very close to her, to make sure that she only hears the right things. Just recently I had to ask someone who had been working with her not to come back again; he was becoming too disruptive. We are very careful the way we manage everything around her.”
The evening before she played Bondarenko, Baltacha and Severino went through each of the permutations she might find herself in. What if she raced into a lead, what if Bondarenko came out firing, what if it was a close match and a third set was a possibility?
“It is vital that if she is in a position when she is down a bit mentally, she doesn’t go tumbling,” Severino said. “She can stabilise. She reacts to situations so much better now. It’s definitely moving in the right direction.”
Baltacha nods eagerly as the project manager speaks. That she has lost weight by believing in a nutritional programme has helped, that she uses what Severino calls trigger words at various times during a match, to concentrate her mind, is key because she had so few downs against Bondarenko. It was exciting to witness her uninhibited style. Yes, there were two nervous netted backhands after she broke for a 4-3 lead in the second set that might have undone her in times gone by (those she does not speak of now), but the world No 83 accepted that break of serve and put it out of her mind.
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She served out for a place in the third round with two consecutive aces, drew a forehand error from Bondarenko and, although Baltacha double-faulted on the first match point — that is the Briton in her — the Ukrainian erred on the second and “Bally” let out a squeal of delight. Rightly so.
It was apt that Murray should mention this week about how having the right numbers in his corner is paramount in the drive for success. Baltacha ran to two people after her victory, Severino and Nigel Sears, the Great Britain Fed Cup captain whose determination that his players make the most of the talent they have — backed by funding from the LTA that is the envy of many nations — earns him well-merited kudos.
Murray’s comprehensive victory over Gicquel, given that the wind had picked up, was another example of him doing all that could have been asked. Next up comes Serra, who plays most of his shots with flat-batted contempt, who drives through the ball but who has been through the rigours of two five-set matches and saved two match points yesterday before downing Jarkko Nieminen, the Finn.
Baltacha’s victory apart, the story of the women’s championship remains the restoration of Justine Henin to international credibility. The Belgian who took 18 months away from the game before the spark was reignited defeated Elena Dementieva, the world No 5 from Russia, 7-5, 7-6 on Rod Laver Arena. There were so many reminders of days past, so many wishes for days to come.