Andy Murray has opened up about how Elena Baltacha’s death and Ross Hutchins’ fight against cancer have affected him.
The world No2 said Baltacha’s death last year from liver cancer at the age of 30 is “hard to process, even now” but added it had spurred him to step up his charity work, from the Rally for Bally events for cancer care to his Unicef role helping its work with refugees.
Writing on the Players’ Tribune website, Murray, who is preparing for next week’s ATP World Tour finals in London, said: “I did not know Elena as well as I knew Ross but still: in the tennis community, you ‘know’. Tennis is a small community, a small world. And in small worlds, you usually get a good sense of what everyone is like. You hear things. And trust me: when someone is a ‘bad apple’, in any way, you’re definitely going to hear things.
“Bally – all you heard were the best things. Honestly. Just how gracious she was, how easy to work with, how nice she was to anyone she interacted with. Bally was just … a good person. She was, like Ross, ‘one of the good ones’. My mum coached her from a young age and was very fond of her. We all were.
“When she succumbed to it and died at 30, it was a shock beyond shock. I could try to find the words … but I wouldn’t manage. It’s hard to process, even now.”
His long-term friend and hitting partner Hutchins, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 28 – the same age Murray is now – has since recovered but Murray said it has jolted his “false sense of security” about cancer diagnosis.
“I remember my exact internal reaction when I found out the news,” Murray wrote. “It wasn’t stress. It wasn’t sadness. It was: sorry, what? It was disbelief. It was total, utter disbelief. You mean Ross, as in … Ross? You mean Hodgkin’s lymphoma, as in … cancer? In the back of my mind, I honestly just don’t think I believed it was true.
“Ross is one of my best friends for a reason. You know how you have your ‘sometimes’ friends? The friends where, sure, they’re alright – but you have to be in a certain mood to hang out with them? Ross is the opposite of that. Ross is my ‘anytime’ friend: someone whom I’ve always wanted around – and who, in turn, has always been there for me.”
The British No1 added: “I now view charitable activism as an essential part of my everyday life. From Rally for Bally, which has become an annual event, and other cancer-fighting initiatives; to Andy’s Aces, a Unicef initiative I’m spearheading to help with Europe’s refugee crisis; to my work with Malaria No More, to help eradicate Malaria for good; to my work as a global ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund and United for Wildlife – these efforts have shaped who I am, and represent who I want to continue to become.”
Murray faces a busy month ahead on court, with next week’s ATP World Tour Finals at London’s 02 Arena followed swiftly by the Davis Cup final against Belgium, which starts on 28 November.
