2022 Beach Tennis World Championships underway in Terracina
The Beach Tennis World Championships will pit one former world champion against another in the opening round when the main draw gets underway later today.
Sofia Cimatti and Nicole Nobile will have to get off to a fast start if they are to continue their winning form from the Sand Series Saarlouis Classic as they face off against 2019 champion Maraike Biglmaier and her partner Eva D'Elia. Cimatti is a two-time World Champion and will be looking to bring Nobile her maiden title.
Defending champions Giulia Gasparri and Ninny Valentini will look to continue their formidable season with an eighth title of the year. The pair are drawn in a half which may see them face off against the Brazilian pairing of Vitoria Marchezini and Marcela Vita for a ninth time this year, with the Italian co-world No. 1s victorious in all eight previous encounters.
Meanwhile, 2021 Runners Up Patricia Diaz and Rafaella Miiller will have to navigate a tricky quarter that includes Sophia Chow and Flaminia Daina, who will be feeling confident after their BT400 Marechal Deodoro triumph last month. Diaz and Miiller are not short of Championship winning memories this year either, having taken the opening Sand Series of the year at the Réunion Classic in March.
On the men’s side, red hot Michele Cappelletti and Antomi Ramos will face a tough road even to the final, with Tommaso Giovannini and Diego Bollettinari potentially waiting for them in the quarters. Whilst the top seeds will take some confidence from beating the Italian pair in reaching the final at the recent BT400 Parnu, Giovannini is no stranger to success in Terracina as the reigning World Championship with Nikita Burmakin.
Burmakin, with partner Andre Baran, is also in the same side of the draw, the duo clinching the BT400 Valinhos in June followed by runner-up finishes at BT400 tournaments in Uberlandia and Parnu. Burmakin could be in familiar territory in the semi-final in the form of Doriano Beccaccioli (this year partnering Theo Irigaray) against whom he faced off in last year’s Championship match, triumphing in a thrilling final ending in a match tie break.
Fellow 2021 finalist Mattia Spoto will look to continue his stellar year with partner Nicolas Gianotti, a maiden World Championships title for both players the ultimate goal. It won’t be easy however, with the strong Latvian-Spanish pairing of Maksimilians Andersons and Gerard Rodriguez Querol a possible second round encounter.
Reaching the semi-final could see them face off against three-time world champion Marco Garavini who will be looking to guide Vini Font to his first title, in what would be a repeat of their epic BT400 Uberlandia quarter-final that finished 10-8 in the match tie-break. Just getting out of their quarter will be no mean feat however, with an opening round clash against Aksel Samardzic and Airton Rodrigues Macedo.
Samardzic/Macedo triumphed at the BT100 Anasco a mere four days ago and navigated a hurricane to get to Terracina so will be confident of an upset. Upsetting Allan Oliveira and Thales Santos, winners in Marechal Deodoro, will likely be required in that quarter in order to progress to Super Saturday, which will also see the women’s final take place under the lights in Terracina.
Popular Brazilian YouTube channel PlayBT have travelled to Italy to broadcast coverage of the World Championships. A live stream is available on the PlayBT YouTube channel each day with the ITF YouTube channel also providing coverage from Wednesday.