Gasparri-Valentini and Spoto-Gianotti keep on rolling in Gran Canaria
It was business as usual for the top seeds on the Playa de Las Canteras with Giulia Gasparri, Ninny Valentini, Mattia Spoto and Nicolas Gianotti extending their win streaks and further staking their claims as the standout teams on the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour this year.
Gasparri and Valentini continued their strong run of form, picking up their third title of the season and first Sand Series crown after losing their first three finals in Saarlouis, Brasília and Réunion earlier this year.
After overcoming a tight encounter against Sophia Chow and Patricia Diaz in the quarter-finals, the pair romped to victory with two straight set wins against their Brasilia conquerors Vitoria Marchezini and Marcela Vita in the semi-finals before repeating their BT400 Balneário Camboriú triumph over Flaminia Daina and Rafaella Miiller in the final.
Gasparri said: “Flaminia and Rafa are one of the best teams in the world and are a very strong team. It was the perfect week." The win also culminated with Valentini joining Gasparri at the top of the ITF Beach Tennis rankings for the very first time and will head into the Sand Series Barcelona on a ten match winning streak having reached at least the final of all six events they have played this year.
Meanwhile, Spoto and Gianotti decimated the field culminating in a win against defending champions Michele Cappelletti and Antomi Ramos. The pair have looked imperious all week, barely dropping games let alone sets as they made it 18 wins in a row on the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour, adding to their Sand Series Brasilia Classic title from last year.
“We were tactically perfect,” said Gianotti, who had never previously advanced beyond the second round in Gran Canaria. Spoto added: “We played an incredible match. They started to play better in the second set, the luck was changing so I’m very happy.”
Cappelletti and Ramos had also enjoyed smooth passage to the final, reaching the championship match without dropping a set, but the French-Italian pair proved too much for them as they fell 6-0 6-3. The Beach Tennis elite face a quick turnaround as they now head to Barcelona for the latest chapter of the Sand Series, where play gets underway on Thursday.
The Sand Series consists of the premier tournaments in the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour. Designed to provide the top players with opportunities to gain more ranking points and more prize money. In addition to the Gran Canaria Classic, the Series will see the return of three more Classic tournaments in Réunion, Brasília and Saarlouis with Barcelona and Viareggio joining the series destinations.
Sand Series 2022
25 – 27 March Réunion Classic
20 – 22 May Gran Canaria Classic
26 – 28 May Barcelona
16 – 18 June Brasília Classic
26 – 28 August Saarlouis Classic
09 – 11 September Viareggio