Top British tennis player dies of cancer

London, May 5 (IANS) Former British No.1 Elena Baltacha died of liver cancer at the age of 30 just a year after retiring from professional tennis.

Baltacha's husband Nino Severino announced the news Sunday through BBC, reports Xinhua.

Baltacha was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic liver condition, at the age of 19. She was diagnosed with cancer in January.

Despite her illness and injury problems, the Ukraine-born player won 11 singles titles, made the third round of Wimbledon in 2002, reached the third round of the Australian Open in 2005 and 2010, and achieved a career-high world ranking of 49.