Draw for Sand Series Reunion Classic brings stellar first round ties
The draw for the 2023 Sand Series Reunion Classic has brought some intriguing first round ties in what promises to be a thrilling tournament at Plage Des Brisants.
Two-time runner-up and former world No. 1 Maraike Biglmaier and partner Joana Cortez (also a former world No. 1) will have their work cut out against home favourites Mathilde and Marie-Eve Hoarau. Biglmaier is no stranger to facing the sisters on their home patch, having defeated them in the semi-finals in 2021 before falling to Sofia Cimatti and Nicole Nobile in an epic final (where they held a championship point before falling 15-13 in the championship tie-break.
Cimatti and Nobile will be eyeing semi-final revenge against defending champions Patricia Diaz and Rafaella Miiller after their 17-15 match tie-break loss in the same round last year. The quartet not only produced some of the best matches of the 2022 season but have already faced off once this year in the final of BT200 Guaruja, with the Brazilian-Venezuelan duo coming out on top in a tight two-set win.
The women's draw sees World No. 1 pair Giulia Gasparri and Ninny Valentini face a tough opening round against Lisa Jamais and Margarete Pelster, with new pairing Eva Fernandez Palos and Vitoria Marchezini potentially lying in wait in the quarter-finals. The Italian top seeds collected 10 titles together as a pair and will be looking to get their year off to a winning start with the Reunion Classic after finishing runner-up last year.
Meanwhile on the men’s side, the standout opening round match sees Nikita Burmakin and Andre Baran face off against one of the best up and coming young sides in Leonardo Garrossino Branco and Daniel Mola, with their notable semi-final finish at the most recent Sand Series - the Saarlouis Classic - last year. Should they successfully navigate their opening match, they would be on track to face defending champions Antomi Ramos and Michele Cappelletti in the semi-finals. After teaming up halfway through last season, they took on the pair on four occasions, with a 1-3 record against the world's top-ranked men's pair, winning in BT400 Valinhos but missing out in Uberlandia, Sand Series Brasilia and BT400 Parnu.
Home favourite Nicolas Gianotti will be looking to go one step further and raise the roof off the Plage Des Brisants once more with Mattia Spoto after falling in the final last year, but to do so they will likely have to get past new pairing Gerard Rodriguez Querol and Thales Santos in the quarter-finals, and then Doriano Beccaccioli and Theo Irigaray just to make it to that Championship match. Beccaccioli and Irigaray open up against Theo Lahondes and Maxime Moretto. The French pair may fancy their chances, having taken Gianotti and Spoto all the way last week in Pam Beach before losing 15-13 in the match tie break.
Live Scoring will be available from the first round and live streaming will be available from the quarter-finals onwards with more information available on the tournament page.