The latest stop on the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour saw the Tour’s elite head to the Middle East and the UAE for a ten-day swing, with a total of $70,000 prize money available across three tournaments. 

Giulia Gasparri  and Ninny Valentini took their winning streak to 25 after ending 2022 on a ten match win-streak and putting together a perfect 15-0 start to 2023, collecting a second title of the year at the BT200 Ras Al Khaimah 2 followed by a resounding triumph at the inaugural BT400 Abu Dhabi.

They did not have things all their own way in Ras Al Khaimah, edging through a first round match tie-break  for the first time since the Saarlouis Classic last year. They faced similar foes in their semi-final and final at both tournaments, coming up against Eva Fernandez Palos and Vitoria Marchezini followed by Flaminia Daina and Sophia Chow in each event.  

“We are really happy and proud of our work, especially with our coach Doriano Beccaccioli," said Gasparri after their win in Abu Dhabi, a new addition to the tour. "We’ve started the season in the best way possible and we always try to keep raising the bar."

The pair now head to Brasil for the BT400 Pure Beach in Marechal Deodoro, the inaugural Sand Series Ribeirao Preto followed by the BT400 Balneario Camboriu, where they will be defending their title. On the upcoming Brasil swing, Valentini added: "We always try and change something in our game depending on the conditions, but we will be ready."

On the men’s side, Nikita Burmakin and Andre Baran achieved the rare feat of defeating the top two seeded teams to take the title and did so without the loss of a set. They took out Sand Series Reunion Classic champions, top seeds and world No.1 pair Antomi Ramos and Michele Cappelletti, saving set points in the opener, before defeating Nicolas Gianotti and Mattia Spoto, who had gone a perfect 10-0 in the two Ras Al Khaimah tournaments last year as well as taking the opening title this year.

The winning duo picked up two BT400 titles last year at the BT400 Valinhos and the BT400 Laguna but also suffered final losses at the Sand Series Brasilia, BT400 Uberlandia and BT400 Parnu, all of them to Capelletti and Ramos, and so will take huge confidence from their semi-final win in the desert.

"We had a really tough draw in the semi-final and final facing the two teams ranked above us, today was a good step to catch them," said Burmakin.

"I’m really happy with this week," Baran added. "Nikita and I have trained hard for this week and it’s an important step for beach tennis to be playing in new places such as the UAE. Now I can’t wait to play with my home crowd next week in Brasil."

The tournament in Abu Dhabi broke new ground for Beach Tennis as the highest grade tournament to take place in the Middle East.

“This is the first time the capital of the UAE has hosted a Beach Tennis event and we are very happy to have all the top players in this first edition," said Maitham Hussein of UAE Tennis.

Saif Thabet from the Abu Dhabi Sports Council added: "Congratulations to Tennis Emirates. To have a BT400 event for the first time and to attract the top 10 in the world is wonderful. We are really looking forward to growing Beach Tennis and bringing bigger and better events in the near future."