And she's serving for Scotland

Now the speed of delivery that got her noticed - 118mph - is merely her average, and she promises more to come. Still only 19, the teenager who was born in Kiev, but spent most of her formative years in Scotland, thanks to her father’s job as a professional footballer, is preparing for her third outing at her favourite tournament. She is also highly amused about a now-annual reconnection to her Scottish upbringing.

She might have been born in the Ukraine in 1983, but her road to success has taken in both Perth and Paisley. The Baltacha family, Elena, her parents Olga and Sergei, and her brother, also Sergei, arrived in Perth via Ipswich and Kiev when her footballer father signed for St Johnstone. Sergei junior played for St Mirren and more recently Millwall.

We do deserve our claim on her, despite the fact that we have lost her to Enfield. At least she actually lived in Scotland, rather than being possessed of a tenuous Scottish granny. Asked whether she minds being adopted as a Scottish superstar for two weeks of the year, Baltacha laughs. "I think it is really funny when that happens," she says. "It is great to have Scottish supporters and a lot of people come down to see me and I am flattered by that."

Many of her fans have followed her career since she dominated the junior Scottish championship, winning all the age groups, before taking the title of ladies senior champion. "I haven’t been in Scotland for a while, I’ve been all round the world playing in the US and the Far East, but I do go back because we’ve still got friends there," she says.

The right-hander started playing tennis when her parents introduced her to the game when she was around six years old. Her brother’s prowess at football was leaving his sister in the shade and with a professional footballer for a father and a sports masseuse-cum-Olympic-trained pentathlete for a mother, the young Elena needed a sport she could get her teeth into.

From the moment the six-year-old got her first Swing Ball, she was smitten.

Her best tennis experience remains the moment in 2001 when she stepped out in front of the home crowds and made her debut at Wimbledon, playing on centre court against Nathalie Dechy. "I just totally love Wimbledon. It is just the best thing to play a Grand Slam at home and so many people come to watch and to support you," she says. "I love it, it is my favourite time of the year. I get so excited because it is a tournament that no-one on the tour wants to miss, so even if you’re not playing you make the effort to get there because there are so many people to see and it ends up being a great time for socialising."

Despite Baltacha’s previous form at Wimbledon - she reached the third round last year beating Steffi Graf’s nemesis Amanda Coetzer (aka The Little Assassin) in the second round, and winning support for her fantastic serve and gutsy performance - she had to rely on a wild card for entry this year. A crippling round of illness and injury has left the teenager struggling for match fitness. She had been looking to build up her fitness by playing in the DFS Classic in Birmingham two weeks ago, but a sudden back injury forced her to pull out - the latest in a series of health problems including a bout of chicken pox, tonsillitis, flu, glandular fever and recurring liver problems that she has suffered over the last 11 months.

However, Baltacha insists she is prepared for Wimbledon and is looking forward to putting in a strong performance. "We thought I would have to pull out of the tour last week, but I am completely fine now. There is an ongoing problem with my liver and immediately after Wimbledon I have to take two weeks off to have more tests done. It has been badly damaged by antibiotics and the doctors are not quite sure what to do about it."

Despite recently losing her British number one ranking to Anne Keothavong, who took that mantle during the Surbiton Trophy earlier this month, Baltacha is ready to do what she does best. Like all Scottish sports people, the role of the plucky underdog is perfect casting, especially given her current health and fitness circumstances.

"I just go out there and swing my racket and have fun. It is my favourite tournament and my favourite crowd and it is such a treat to be able to play near where you live," she says. "I’ll be enjoying it all whatever happens."

If she was looking at a draw to pull the crowds at Wimbledon, she has been rewarded with a first-round match against the highly ranked Yugoslavian, Jelena Dokic. The world number 11 may look tough on paper, but a recent string of poor performances presents Baltacha with the chance of her biggest scalp. But, diplomatically, Baltacha maintains she is planning nothing more than to do her best during this year's tournament. She is also playing in the mixed doubles with Lee Childs, with whom she reached the third round of mixed doubles last year and doubles with Julie Pullin.

Her tips for glory this year include the now or never candidate, Tim Henman. "I would really like this to be Tim’s year, that would be fantastic for him and for British tennis." In the women’s game she tips the Williams sisters and the Belgian Kim Clijsters. "The Williams sisters have got to be there but I think it could be Kim’s year. It will be interesting to see how Serena copes after the upset of the French Open."

So what of the future? Baltacha’s coaches help her immensely and the partnership of Alan Jones and former British women’s number one Jo Durie is one that is working. "They are a great team and they are my friends as well as my coaches. Alan can be quite strict with me, but I respect him and when he wants me to work on different parts of my game, he tells me what we are trying to achieve, rather than just trying to make me do things differently."

One part of her game the coaches have not tampered with is that famous serve. For erratic amateurs who never know where their shot is going, it is galling to learn that Baltacha rarely thinks about her most powerful weapon. "My serve is natural so we don’t do anything with that."

Despite the liver problem, she remains the nation’s best hope of finding a woman capable of making the top 100 in the world - a feat no British female has managed in more than three years. Yet despite the success she has had and the undoubted triumphs of the future, Baltacha is clearly a down-to-earth teenager. So what is the best part of being a full-time tennis player? "French Connection are one of my sponsors and they have been really good to me. I get to pick clothes from all their collections and it’s really great."

She is often seen wearing one of their T-shirts bearing the legend: "FCUK Fear."