Mikaelian crashes out of PreCon final
Switzerland's Marie-Gaïané Mikaelian has been defeated in the final of the $140,000 PreCon Ladies Open tennis tournament in Basel. Mikaelian lost in straight sets against the Czech Republic's Adriana Gersi on Sunday.
Mikaelian, who was playing her first WTA final, was unable to find a breach in Gersi’s game. Very nervous, she finally lost 4-6,1-6 against Gersi.
“I thought far too much about the importance of this game,” Mikaelian said after Sunday’s final.
Mikaelian committed a total of nine double faults in the course of the match, although she explains that a pulled shoulder muscle and elbow pain were also partly to blame – the final was her eleventh game in less than two weeks.
“I don’t want to use this as an excuse, but I would have put up more of a fight if I’d been in a better physical state,” she explained. “But I still feel proud and contented.”
The Swiss 17-year-old reached the final after a string of unexpected wins, including a 7-6,7-6 victory against seventh-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in Friday’s quarterfinals match. In Saturday’s semi-final, Mikaelian defeated Israel’s Anna Smashnova in straight sets 6-2,6-2.
Following this week’s victories, Mikaelian ranks among the world’s best 110 players. Last Sunday, the Swiss talent was crowned under-18 European tennis champion in Klosters.
Mikaelian is expected to participate in the qualification round for the US Open at the end of August.
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