Young Anastasia sees her glory run come to an end

Edinburgh tennis prospect Anastasia Mikheeva saw her astonishing run of success at Craiglockhart over the past fortnight come to an end when she lost to fellow Scot Anna Brogan in the final of the AEGON Tennis Europe under-18 event, writes BILL LOTHIAN.

Despite being beaten 6-0, 6-1, Miss Mikheeva emerged with plenty credit against an opponent who, as she turns 15 on August 4, is around 19 months older. Watched by Federation Cup captain Judy Murray, Glaswegian Anna romped through the opening eight games of the final helped by strong ground shots which drew the relatively lightweight Mikheeva around the indoor court to where all finals had been switched after overnight rain.

However, Mikheeva, a member of the Scottish tennis academy based at St George’s School, never faltered in her commitment and, even trailing 1-5 in the second set, continued to show self-belief and control.

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While Miss Brogan celebrated a first ITF title of 2012 after finishing runner-up at the Vasteras Junior ITF in Sweden in January, Miss Mikheeva could reflect on adding to her laurels after winning both the Scottish under-16 and under-18 singles the previous week, also as a wildcard entry. The Edinburgh-Glasgow final also underlined the growth in Scottish junior tennis over the past few years.

Meanwhile, East of Scotland juniors distinguished themselves with a bronze medal from the weekend AEGON under-12 County Cup against top English opposition in Bolton.

East boys were represented by Cameron Bowie, Jacob Fearnley and Robbie Croall, with the girls team comprising twins Jessica and Charlotte Mair, as well as Alexandra Hunter.

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