LAHORE-Mikaeel Ali Baig, Pakistan’s talented young tennis star, had an exponential rise in Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) rankings as he started three weeks ago being unranked and due to his successful performance will be in top 40s in the next week’s published ATF rankings.
Mikaeel, who came to Dushanbe three weeks ago to play back-to-back three ATF U14 tournaments, was unseeded and unranked. In each tournament, Mikaeel defeated top seed players on his way to finishing the tournament. His first ATF earned him a second placesilver medal. In the second ATF, he grabbed two gold medals, winning first place in singles and doubles. And in his final ATF tournament, Mikaeel got a bronze for 3rd place.
Undoubtedly, this was an exceptional performance in three weeks from this young tennis star, who had a singles 13 games winning streak and only two losses. It’shard to maintain such a streak by anyone in back-to-back tournaments.
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Talking to The Nation, Mikaeel said, “I am of course sad that I lost in semifinals of the third ATF event, but it was to the No. 1 seed. We had a great match, there were times when I was in the lead, and then he was. The match lasted 3 hours, and the outcome wasn’t what I had hoped for. We learn from our losses, this is what my mother tells me. There was a lot that I did learn about myself from not only this loss but also from these last three weeks.
“I am still on a developmental journey. I have many people in my corner who support me and wish me well, and many who don’t, and to all, I just want to say thank you for believing in me. Know that I am still on a journey, there will be ups and downs and I am still learning. I have a lot to achieve and a lot more to do in life.
“I am constantly working on improving myself as a person and as a player. And I hope that along this journey, I continue to make my family proud and earn more laurels for my country. I have two goals: to help the people of my country as best as I can and to represent my country in Davis Cup. I hope in years to come I can achieve both,” Mikaeel concluded.
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