Ramos and Cappelletti get luck of the draw at Sand Series Gran Canaria
Antomi Ramos and Michele Cappelletti managed to avoid some of their biggest rivals of the 2022 season on the eve of the Sand Series Gran Canaria Classic.
Whilst the second seeds and defending champions landed in the bottom half, the top half saw a loaded section full of the winners of some of the biggest events so far on the 2022 ITF Beach Tennis World Tour.
Top seeds for the first time at a Sand Series are Mattia Spoto and Nicolas Gianotti, who managed to avenge their defeat in the Sand Series Réunion Classic final to Ramos and Cappelletti in April’s BT400 Balneário Camboriú, which formed part of the pair’s five title run this year.
Also in the top half are Andre Baran and Theo Irigaray, who have picked up two titles together this year at the BT200 Santos and the BT400 Balneario Rincao.
Both were losing semi-finalists in 2021 and so will look to go a step further this year. Irigaray said: “We knew the draw would be tough, even from the first round. But we will take it match by match, because every player is on form.”
They will have to get past Allan Oliveira and Thales Santos in the quarter-finals, who enjoyed a winning run last week at the BT200 Campinas.
Meanwhile on the women’s side, world champions, top seeds and recent Balneário Camboriú Champions Giulia Gasparri and Ninny Valentini were dealt a tricky draw, landing in the same half as Vitoria Marchezini and Marcela Vita.
Marchezni and Vita lost an epic semi-final here in 2021 to eventual champions Patricia Diaz and Rafaella Miiller and they will look to avenge their Réunion loss to Gasparri and Valentini to claim a second Sand Series title after their win at the Sand Series Brasilia Classic last year.
The top seeds will also have to get past Sophia Chow and Diaz in the quarterfinals. Chow has claimed her two biggest titles to date this year at the BT200 Campina Grande as well as last week’s BT200 Campinas and so will be looking to continue her strong run of form.
On the draw, Chow said: “I think the entry list was really strong so we know the first matches are going to be tough. Playing against Ninny and Gasparri is always challenging and it’s amazing to see them pushing everybody else to become better players.” She added “every week is a new challenge, with different conditions but the great battles help build confidence”.
In the bottom half, Sofia Cimatti and Nicole Nobile will look to get back to winning ways after semi-final losses at the Réunion Classic and the BT400 Balneario Camboriu.
The pair bookended the Sand Series last year with wins in Saarlouis and Réunion and will be looking for a strong showing in Gran Canaria. It won’t be easy, with Rafaella Milller and Flaminia Daina in their half of the draw.
With Miiller a champion in Reunion and Daina in Balneario Rincao, the stage is set for one of many epic showdowns on the Playa de Las Canteras.