Gianotti, Spoto, Kudinova, Semenova seal ITF Beach World Champs glory
It was a thrilling week in Cesenatico, Italy at the 2025 Beach Tennis World Championships, which drew to a close on Sunday.
The men's doubles final saw the two in-form pairings of the week face off for the title - with France's Nicolas Gianotti and Italy's Mattia Spoto taking on Brazilian duo Andre Baran and Felipe Loch.
As they did throughout the week, top seeds Gianotti and Spoto - who won the title in 2023 and were runners up in 2024 - proved too hot to handle and ran out 6-3 6-3 winners.
Time and time again they proved why they're the best in the world - lighting up the crowd by winning seemingly impossible points with sensational skill and defensive play.
Though the men's final was not as competitive as some may have expected, it was simply too good from the champions.
Gianotti and Spoto have now lifted the World Championships trophy twice and have finished as runners-up on two occasions as a pairing.
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The women's final, however, was undoubtedly one of the matches of the tournament.
Third seeds and defending champions, Patricia Diaz and Rafaella Miiller, took on Elizaveta Kudinova and Anastasiia Semenova for the title.
Diaz and Miiller's experience appeared to be the difference-maker in the first set when they stormed to a 5-1 lead.
However, the underdogs were not going anywhere and fought their way back in sensational fashion - producing multiple contenders for the best point of the week to keep themselves in it.
Despite throwing everything at their opponents and having multiple set points, Diaz and Miiller could not find a way over the line and the fifth seeds went on a run of six straight games to clinch the opener 7-5.
The second set was also back-and-fourth with Diaz and Miiller breaking in the first game, before Kudinova and Semenova broke back and then did so once again to take a healthy lead.
The defending champions fought back to level up the set, but Kudinova and Semenova continued their wave of momentum and went on to claim the title with a 7-5 6-4 victory.
It was a remarkable performance from the fifth seeds, especially given neither of them had reached a World Championships final before.
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It was a fantastic final to cap off a wonderful week in Cesenatico, full of thrilling Beach Tennis in front of packed crowds.
To watch highlights and full match replays of the 2025 World Championships, click here.