The quarter-final line-up at the 2022 ITF Beach Tennis World Cup is now known after France and Latvia confirmed their places, with eight nations dreaming of lifting silverware on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach.

France and Latvia will be in the mix for honours after posting commanding must-win victories over South Africa and Poland respectively in their final group-stage ties. However, it was perhaps on adjacent courts where a true flavour of the rip-roaring action to come was sampled.

Spain may well have dispatched Germany 3-0 to claim top spot in Group C, but the men’s showdown between Spanish duo Antomi Ramos and Gerard Querol and German brothers Benjamin and Manuel Ringelstetter was spellbinding and anything but one-way traffic.

It was a tense and undulating battle which saw the balance of power transfer many times until world No. 1 Ramos and Querol eventually prevailed 6-4 6-7(4) 10-7 in an enthralling match tiebreak.

"It was such as a tough match,” Ramos told itftennis.com. “We always have to fight against them. Last year we've played almost the same tie in the same phase with almost the same result, although we won in the mixed double .

“Thank God, we won it in men’s doubles. We were playing not so well, and they were a little but more consistent, but we are so happy to win.”

Querol added: “Tactics were important today, no doubt. I have a gift to go out from the basic, sometimes it gets good but sometimes bad. I like to make matches more complicated than normal ones.”

Spain now face a showdown against France in the last eight. France, who had been staring down the barrel of elimination after losing to Venezuela in the opening group match, advanced to the knockout stage following a blistering 3-0 win against South Africa.

“After losing to Venezuela on the first day, we knew we had to win both ties and we managed to do so with good scores, world No. 8 Theo Irigaray told itftennis.com. “It is going to be a tough quarter-final tie but we will be ready.

“I don´t know who will play for Spain but, for sure, we will be better prepared than we were against Venezuela. I feel more confident with the ball and the wind – everything – after these three matches.”

In the other quarter-finals, four-time competition winners Italy will face Germany, Venezuela take on Latvia and defending champions Brazil will draw swords with Puerto Rico for a place in the semi-finals.

Talking of Brazil, in a repeat of last year’s final, their juniors were beaten in a captivating must-win tussle with Italy, with defeat in the boys’ doubles match condemning them to a place in the positional play-off.

2022 ITF Beach Tennis World Cup

Quarter-finals

France v Spain

Venezuela v Latvia

Italy v Germany

Puerto Rico v Brazil

Juniors: semi-finals

Germany v Italy

Spain v Venezuela

Photo credit: Marcello Zambrana/DGW