I first met Bally when we were eight or nine years old. She had red hair and huge glasses and she whacked every ball that came her way as hard as she could. Bish bash, that was Bally. The no-nonsense attitude was there off court as well. We were almost exactly the same age and it proved to be the start of a shared journey, from junior squads and trips to tournaments to taking our first steps on the professional circuit, playing Fed Cup together, vying for British No 1 and eventually representing Great Britain together at the London 2012 Olympics.