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| 12 May 2009 | |
| Italians triumph at Beach Tennis World Championships |
Italian pairings captured both titles at the 1st ITF Beach Tennis World Championships at the historic Foro Italico in Rome 4-6 May. Players from 13 nations took part in the inaugural Championships, which became the largest event since the inception of the ITF Beach Tennis Tour in 2008.
Held alongside the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, the tournament comprised men’s and women’s doubles events, offering maximum ranking points for the ITF Beach Tennis World Rankings.
The men’s competition attracted a strong and varied entry, featuring 32 pairs from 11 countries. However Italian pairs dominated the draw, going on to fill all eight quarterfinal places.The semifinals saw veteran third seeds Riccardo De Filippi and Marco Ludovici upset second seeded compatriots Alan Maldini and Cristiano Minighini to set up a final with the title favourites Luca Meliconi and Paolo Tazzari.
Despite their top seeded status, Meloconi and Tazzari were teaming up for the first time in major competition and performed well below par in the final. De Filippi and Ludovici dominated the match through powerful serving and strong determination, going on to win 62 62 and be crowned ITF World Champions.
Six nations were represented in the 16-pair women’s draw, although Brazilians Joana Cortez and Aline Sokolik of Brazil were the only team to defeat an Italian pairing. Former tour stars Olga Barabanschikova & Natasha Zvereva of Belarus were expected to perform well, but fell short at the quarterfinal stage.
An all-Italian semifinal saw the world No. 1 pairing of Simona Briganti and Rosa Stefanelli set up a final against second seeds Franca Bruschi and Laura Olivieri. The title favourites made a great comeback to win 16 75 62 to retain their No. 1 ranking and earn the title of World Champions.
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