Basel hosts tennis tournament
The first WTA PreCon Ladies Open has begun in Basel. It is Switzerland's only large tournament on sand, and with Kloten represents the only other WTA Sanex tour event in the country.
Some of the world's best players are expected at the Basel PreCon, including Patty Schnyder, Miroslava Vavrinec and Emmanuelle Gagliardi.
Several top-30 players are also participating in the tournament, which lasts until August 5. These include Argentinia's Paloa Suarez and Romania's Jelena Lichovtseva, as well as newcomers such as Spain's Marta Marrero and Germany's Jana Kandarr.
The project was set up by the P4T company, composed of tennis insiders and sport enthusiasts. The new tennis event is taking place at the VitisSport Centre in Allschwil near Basel.
Tennis insiders involved in the WTA event include the owner of the sports facility, Beat Künzler; Schnyder's former coach, Vito Gugolz; and tennis journalist Thomas Wirz.
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