Fourteen-time Swiss national champion Nicolas Mueller battled back from 1-0 down to defeat Baptiste Masotti and keep home hopes alive at the Grasshopper Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the best-of-three format up until the semi finals in Zurich, Mueller lost the opener 11-3 before overturning the deficit to win the second and third games 11-4, 11-6 to progress to the second round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mueller, who’s the most decorated Swiss national champion, is the last player standing from the host nation of the Gold-level event following the exits of Switzerland No.1 Dimitri Steinmann, Yannick Wilhelmi and tournament wildcards Louie Hafez, David Bernet, Cindy Merlo and Ambre Allinchx. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s always good to get a win on home soil. It was a quick-fire match – Baptiste [Masotti] and I played about 18 minutes for three games and there weren’t many long rallies. I’m very happy about that,” Mueller said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s always been a childhood dream of mine to play in this Grand Central station in Zurich. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There’s a lot of friends and family who came out to support me so it’s always nice to see them. Hopefully it’s going to be the same in two days’ time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World No.17 Steinmann was defeated by Iker Pajares, with the Swiss No.1 saving four of the Spaniard’s match balls to force the clash into a tiebreak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However Pajares was able to convert in the tiebreak to claim an impressive 11-8, 13-11 victory and axe Switzerland’s No.1 in the first round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the women’s draw, Rowan Elaraby continues her comeback from injury after recovering from 1-0 down against Ka Yi Lee to win 2-1 against the Hong Konger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elaraby, featuring in her third tournament since she broke a bone in her foot at last year’s World Championships, marked her first appearance in Zurich since 2023 by notching a 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 win over Lee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s really nice be standing here again after a while. It feels amazing to be able to play on court again,” she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Today I think I felt a little bit edgy, she’s a very tricky player and I know she has the best shots when the court is open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I was always on my toes and a bit scared as well for my foot. This was in the back if my mind, but a win is a win and I’m really glad to be back playing and winning matches.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile Grace Gear held off fellow Englishwoman Katie Malliff 14-12, 7-11, 11-2 to reach the second round, and Nour Heikal toppled her Egyptian compatriot Hana Moataz 11-7, 11-3 in 13 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ROUND ONE RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Men’s: <\/strong>Fares Dessouky (EGY) bt. Ramit Tandon (IND) 2-0: 11-6, 11-9 (29m); Juan Vargas (COL) bt. Louai Hafez (SUI) 2-0: 11-3, 11-7 (29m); Declan James (ENG) bt. Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 2-0: 15-13, 11-8 (37m); Greg Lobban (SCO) bt. Melvil Scianimanico (FRA) 2-0: 11-4, 12-10 (42m); Nicolas Mueller (SUI) bt. Baptiste Masotti (FRA) 2-1: 3-11, 11-4, 11-6 (19m); Iker Pajares (ESP) bt. Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) 2-0: 11-8, 13-11 (41m); Abhay Singh (IND) bt. David Bernet (SUI) 2-1: 11-9, 9-11, 11-8 (53m); Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt. Gregoire Marche (FRA) 2-0: 11-5, 11-5 (25m)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Women’s: <\/strong>Hollie Naughton (CAN) bt. Cindy Merlo (SUI) 2-0: 11-9, 11-8 (14m); Lucy Turmel (ENG) bt. Amina El Rihany (EGY) 2-0: 12-10, 11-7 (19m); Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt. Ambre Allinckx (SUI) 2-0: 11-4, 11-5 (18m); Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt. Nour Aboulmakarim (EGY) 2-0: 11-7, 11-1 (19m); Nour Heikal (EGY) bt. Hana Moataz (EGY) 2-0: 11-7, 11-3 (13m); Grace Gear (ENG) bt. Katie Malliff (ENG) 2-1: 14-12, 7-11, 11-2 (29m); Melissa Alves (FRA) bt. Nadien Elhammamy (EGY) 2-0: 11-3, 11-0 (16m); Rowan Elaraby (EGY) bt. Ka Yi Lee (HKG) 2-1: 8-11, 11-7, 11-5 (26m)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fourteen-time Swiss national champion Nicolas Mueller battled back from 1-0 down to defeat Baptiste Masotti and keep home<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-11934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-squash"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t