Gasparri and Cimatti reunite to great effect at Sand Series Parnu
Giulia Gasparri and Sofia Cimatti reunited to great effect at Sand Series Pärnu as they won a dramatic championship match against Spaniards Ariadna Costa Graell and Eva Fernandez Palos.
Gasparri has been playing with Ninny Valentini in recent years, but with the 24-year-old currently sidelined following shoulder surgery, she has teamed up with Cimatti until the end of the season
The intrepid duo were almost home and dry in Estonia when up a set and a break and held two championship points but the young Spaniards roared back to take the second set tie break on their fourth set point.
Italians Gasparri and Cimatti got off to a good start in the match tiebreak, going up 5-2 before taking the match. While the Spaniards saved their second championship point at 9-6, they were unable to save a third, with Cimatti hitting an overhead that Palos was unable to retrieve, sinking to her knees as she secured her first title of the season.
On the win, Cimatti was quick to acknowledge those across the net who she was facing for the first time, commenting “congratulations to our opponents” adding that they were “really focused, we had lots of possibilities to close the match earlier. We are really happy”.
The victory would have felt even sweeter for Cimatti, who “last year I lost the final with two match points so this victory is extra special”. For Gasparri, the victory marks her third Sand Series crown of the year and sixth title overall.
Elsewhere, Nicolas Gianotti cemented his position as world No. 1 by securing a first Sand Series title of the year with Mattia Spoto, who joins Gianotti in returning to the top spot.
The world champions were impeccable all the way to the final and had not dropped a set, with that pattern looking set to continue after taking the opener against defending champions Michele Cappelletti and Antomi Ramos to love.
However, the defending champions roared back to take the second set which was far more dramatic than the scoreline suggests, with Cappeletti and Ramos twice up a break but broken back twice, including a set point at 5-3 on a deuce deciding point.
Mattia Spoto looked to level things at 5-5 on his serve but an overhead sailed long to take things into a match tie-break. Gianotti and Spoto took the championship at the second time of asking, taking it 10-5 with both players sinking to their knees in celebration.
On the win, Spoto said: “We knew it would be a difficult match. We were very focused in the first set. For the last three months we’ve always lost the match tiebreak so winning in this way today is even better.”
The ranking implications that were on the line were not lost on Gianotti, who commented that he was “very happy for Matti because now we’re No. 1 together. There was a lot of pressure because of that.”
The next Sand Series will see players head to Saarlouis, Germany next month, before the inaugural Sand Series Valinhos concludes the series in October.