Mikaelian through to quarter finals of Basel WTA tournament
The Swiss tennis player, Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian, has won through to the quarter finals of the $140,000 PreCon WTA tournament in Basel.
The 17-year-old Swiss star, who last weekend won the European Under 18 tennis championships in Klosters, beat her second-round opponent, Rossana de los Rios of Paraguay, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
The Basel tournament, which has been played out under scorching heat with temperatures touching the 30 degree mark, has so far been plain sailing for the young Swiss star.
Mikaelian cruised through her first-round tie earlier in the week against the top-seeded Italian, Silvia Farina Elia, who was forced to withdraw from the match after suffering from heat exhaustion.
Her second-round tie was a little more demanding, but in the end it took the Swiss player only 83 minutes to finish off her opponent and book her place in the tournament’s last eight.
“I am proud,” Mikaelian said after the match, “that I was able to prove myself after the present I received following Farina Elia’s withdrawal in the first round.”
Mikaelian’s opponent in the quarter finals will be the winner of the second round match between Daniela Hantuchova and Tatyana Putschek.
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