The ITF has announced a stellar line-up for the 2023 Beach Tennis World Championships with the men’s and women’s top 10 confirmed to be in Cesenatico, Italy from 16-20 May.

This will be the first time the Championships have been held in the Emilia-Romagna region since Cervia were hosts in 2018, and the return to the cradle of beach tennis has been embraced with over 20 nations represented from five continents.

The Adriatic Coast will see the world’s best battle it out across five days to see who will be crowned World Champions in 2023.

World Number Ones Giulia Gasparri and Ninny Valentini are the two-time defending women’s champions and enter as the favourites, already notching up five titles this year.

They will be wary of the pair they beat to claim both these titles in Rafaella Miiller and Patricia Diaz, the former a World Champion herself in 2016 and 2019.

The teams have already faced off three times in 2023, all in the recent Brazilian swing with Gasparri and Valentini coming out on top in two of those encounters, losing the BT400 Pure Beach Final (their only loss of the year to date) but prevailing in the semi-finals of the Sand Series Ribeirão Preto with the same result in the recent BT400 Balneário Camboriú.

The last of these was a tight affair with the World Number Ones dropping the opening set before squeezing through in a match tie break. The Italians will be tough to beat, having not dropped a set in their two Championship-winning runs in Terracina.

Other former World Champions in the draw include Maraike Biglmaier (2019), pairing up with Margarete Pelster, Joana Cortez (2016), partnering Maria Tavares as well as World No. 3 Sofia Cimatti who is a two-time Champion back in 2013 and 2014.

Her and Nicole Nobile will be looking to win their first world title with Cimatti also finishing runner up three years in a row from 2017-19. Cimatti and Nobile are looking for their first title of the season after being pipped at the post in last week’s Balneário Camboriú final.

Meanwhile, men’s defending champions Antomi Ramos and Michele Cappelletti will look to defend their title against a tough field, with their 2022 finalist adversaries Nicolas Gianotti and Mattia Spoto looking to avenge last year’s loss.

Spoto was also runner-up in 2021 with Doriano Beccaccioli, who will be able to rely on some World Championship pedigree in the form of Tommaso Giovannini, 2021 title winner with Nikita Burmakin.

Burmakin has enjoyed a successful year to date with Andre Baran with two titles this year, including the inaugural Sand Series Ribeirão Preto, and the duo will fancy their chances in Cesenatico.  

Maks Andersons and Mathieu Guegano will also be ones to watch after enjoying an impressive start to the year with runner-up finishes in Ras Al Khaimah as well as Ribeirão Preto.

Other former World Number Ones on the entry list from the home nation include Alessandro Calbucci, Luca Cramarossa and Marco Garavini.

Tournament Director Paolo Caponigri said: “I am delighted with the number of entries and the high quality of players registered. Romagna is ready to welcome the wonderful beach tennis movement.

"We are happy to organise with the ITF and FITP to offer the greatest show on the beach.”

Alongside the professional matches, there will also be events at U12, U14, U16 and ITF U18 level as well as Seniors. Live Scoring will be available with an international live stream from the quarter-finals available in selected countries and on the ITF YouTube Channel.