SUFFOLK tennis titan Elena Baltacha has spoken of her delight after being awarded a university fellowship.

The 29-year-old, formerly Britain’s No.1, was handed the honour by University Campus Suffolk.

Baltacha, on crutches after ankle surgery a couple of weeks ago, has been made a fellow of the university’s School of Nursing and Midwifery. She was at Ipswich Town Hall yesterday for the school’s graduation ceremony.

She said: “It is a real honour to be given something like this, especially when I live in the town.

“To be part of the students’ honours, who have dedicated a lot of their time to their degrees, it’s a privilege.

“I think when you look at what I do and what students go through in a way there’s the same message – you’re going to find a point where it’s hard and you have to push yourself. It’s like in sport when you’re up against it – either you do get through it or you don’t.”

The university has also made Michael Morpurgo (a Children’s Laureate), Liz Calder (founding director of Bloomsbury Publishing), John Burton (co-founder of the World Land Trust) and David Gledhill (chief executive of Hutchison Ports UK) honorary graduates.