Beach Tennis Elite Head to Brazil for the Sand Series Brasilia Classic
After a pulsating May which saw the Sand Series Gran Canaria Classic and the Beach Tennis World Championships take place in back-to-back weeks, players head to Brazil for the third edition of the Sand Series Brasilia Classic.
Rafaella Miiller and Patricia Diaz look to continue their rich vein of form after capturing both titles last month, which included a maiden World Championship title for Diaz. The pair looked formidable all week, not dropping a set on the way to the crown in Cesenatico. Veronica Casadei and Greta Giusti will also be ones to watch in Brasília after a third-place finish at the World Championships last month as well as finishing as runners-up at the inaugural Sand Series Ribeirão Preto in April. With their World Championships run, Casadei broke into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time.
Eva Fernandez Palos will be partnering up with former world No. 1 Sofia Cimatti for the first time, whilst Nicole Nobile will reunite with Flaminia Daina. The pair enjoyed success at the start of last season, capturing the BT200 Matinhos and BT400 Balneário Rincão titles back-to-back, as well as clinching the Gold Medal at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in 2019, one of six titles as a pair that year.
Vitoria Marchezini is also no stranger to the big Brasílian stage, having won this tournament with Marcela Vita in 2021 and will look to repeat her success this month with Sophia Chow. The pair narrowly missed out in a match tie break in the most recent Sand Series final at the Gran Canaria Classic.
Meanwhile, world No. 1s Antomi Ramos and Michele Cappelletti will look to defend their title and seek an eighth Sand Series title overall but will face stiff opposition against newly-crowned World Champions Nicolas Gianotti and Mattia Spoto, who deposed the reigning champions without dropping a set in Cesenatico. Gianotti and Spoto won the inaugural edition here in 2021 so will feel confident of regaining this title in the Brazilian capital. Both these teams will be wary of Andre Baran and Nikita Burmakin, finalists last year (having taken out Gianotti and Spoto in the semi-finals), who look to bounce back from an opening round upset at the World Championships. Burmakin still had some silverware to show for the week after taking the Mixed Doubles title for the first time with Flaminia Daina.
Ramon Guedez and Carlos Vigon have also enjoyed a strong season to date, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the BT400 Balneário Camboriú as well as an epic quarter-final at the Réunion Classic in the opening Sand Series of the year, holding match points in both in two of the standout matches of the season.
Doriano Beccaccioli and Tommaso Giovannini will look to make it back-to-back Sand Series titles after their sensational Gran Canaria Classic triumph saw them come from 7-0 down in the match tie-break in the final. Whilst falling short at the World Championship quarter-final stage, their loss to Cappelletti and Ramos was a tight encounter with the pair up a break in the second set with the match being the night session highlight of that round.
On the entry list, Tournament director Bruno Ferreira said: “Brasília, once again, will be the centre of attention for Beach Tennis. We expect a lot of competition and a big party from the fans… uniting sport and entertainment in the country’s capital”.
The Sand Series Brasília Classic will feature live scoring from the first round as well as live streaming from the quarter-finals onwards with more information available on the tournament page.