BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard completed a perfect week on serve by upsetting American Ben Shelton to win the Swiss Indoors on Sunday.
The French player, who is ranked No. 50, prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (4) against the sixth-seeded Shelton to become the lowest-ranked champion since the tournament became a tour-level event in 1975.
Mpetshi Perricard did not drop serve all week in Basel, winning all 60 of his service games and having to fend off just three break points — all in his quarterfinal match against Denis Shapovalov.
He also served up 22 aces against Shelton on his way to taking his first ATP 500 trophy.
“It’s amazing to win a tournament like that. A 500 for the first time for me,” Mpetshi Perricard said. “I just can be happy with myself, with what I did today and the past five days.
"It’s amazing to win here ... (before this) it was a tough month for me, but it’s always good when the victories are there.”
Mpetshi Perricard started the year ranked 200, won several challenger titles and his first ATP-level title in Lyon in May.
The 21-year-old will rise to a career-high ranking of No. 31 on Monday.
Shelton’s run this week has guaranteed the American’s return to the top 20 from No. 23.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
United States's Ben Shelton returns a ball to France's Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard during the final match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)
France's Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard returns a ball to United States's Ben Shelton during the final match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)
United States's Ben Shelton returns a ball to France's Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard during the final match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)
France's Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard returns a ball to United States's Ben Shelton during the final match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — European observers said Sunday that Georgia's parliamentary election took place in a "climate of hatred and intimidation” with multiple violations and cases of violence, undermining the outcome of the vote that could decide the country's future in Europe.
The country's Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream won 54.8% of Saturday’s vote with almost all the ballots counted. Following a divisive campaign, initial figures suggested turnout is the highest since the ruling party was first elected in 2012.
There were multiple concerns about the conduct of the election, including “the widespread climate of pressure, and party-organized intimidation,” vote-buying and the impartiality of state institutions, said Julian Bulai, head of the PACE delegation monitoring the polls.
Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian over the past year, adopting laws similar to those used by Russia to crack down on freedom of speech. Brussels suspended Georgia’s European Union membership process indefinitely because of a “Russian law” passed in June. Many Georgians viewed Saturday's vote as a referendum on the opportunity to join the EU.
During the campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric ... promoted Russian misinformation, manipulations, and conspiracy theories," said Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, head of the European Parliament monitoring delegation.
“Paradoxically, the government further claimed that it was continuing Georgia’s European integration,” he added.
The conduct of the polls, he said, is more evidence that points to the ruling party's “democratic backsliding."
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday described Georgian Dream's victory as “impressive and obvious,” and said "any attempts to talk about election manipulation ... are doomed to failure.”
Georgian electoral observers, who were stationed across the country, also reported multiple violations and said the results do not reflect "the will of the Georgian people.”
In the capital of Tbilisi, Tiko Gelashvili, 32, said, “The results that were published are just lies and rigged.”
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who made his fortune in Russia, claimed victory almost immediately after polls closed Saturday.
“It is rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation,” he said. He had vowed before the election to ban opposition parties should his party win.
Tina Bokuchava, the chair of the United National Movement opposition party, accused the election commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said that he “stole the victory from the Georgian people and thereby stole the European future.”
She indicated the opposition would not recognize the results and “will fight like never before to reclaim our European future.”
The UNM party said its headquarters was attacked Saturday while Georgian media reported two people were hospitalized after being assaulted outside polling stations.
“The most important question is whether or not these elections will be recognized by the international community," said Natia Seskuria, executive director of the Regional Institute for Security Studies in Tbilisi. Georgia's “economic and political prospects” hinge on the election, she said.
Many Georgians are concerned the EU may close the door on them and fear the country will be more vulnerable to Russia if Georgian Dream remains in power, she said.
Georgians have a complex relationship with Russia, which ruled over it from Moscow until Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia and Georgia fought a short war in 2008, and Moscow still occupies 20% of Georgia's territory.
Despite that, Georgian Dream has adopted Russia-style laws and many Georgians fear the govermment is distancing the country from the West and into Moscow's orbit.
The election observers said instances of intimidation and electoral violations were particularly noticeable in rural areas.
Georgian Dream scored its highest share of the vote — polling almost 90% — in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of Tbilisi, where it got less than 44% of the vote in any district.
The region is predominantly agricultural and many people are ethnic Armenians who speak Armenian, Russian and limited Georgian. Before the election, The Associated Press traveled to the region where voters suggested they were instructed how to vote by local officials. Several questioned why Georgia needed a relationship with Europe and suggested it would be better off allied with Moscow.
Around 80% of Georgians favor joining the EU, according to polls, and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to pursue membership in that bloc and NATO.
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Associated Press producer Sophiko Megrelidze contributed.
Elene Khoshtaria, chair of United National Movement, speaks to the media at the coalition's headquarters after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Elene Khoshtaria, chair of United National Movement, center, speaks to the media, accompanied by Zurab Japaridze, chairman of the Girchi More Freedom party, left; Nika Melia, a leader of Coalition for Changes, second left; Nika Gvaramia, leader of Coalition for Changes, second right, and Nana Malashkhia, who leads the Coalition for Change parliament list, right, at the coalition's headquarters after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
From left, Nika Melia, Nika Gvaramia, leaders of Coalition for Changes, and Nana Malashkhia, who leads the Coalition for Change parliament list, react while talking to journalists at coalition's headquarters after polls closing at the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
FILE - Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the created by him the Georgian Dream party gestures greeting demonstrators during a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov, File)
FILE - Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the created by him the Georgian Dream party greets demonstrators during a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov, File)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Kostya Manenkov)
