Top seeds Cimatti and Nobile survive second round scare in Terracina
The top four seeds have made it through to the quarter-finals in the women’s event at the ITF Beach Tennis World Championships, but there was very nearly a huge upset in Wednesday’s opening match on Centre Court.
Top seeds Sofia Cimatti and Nicole Nobile were down in the match tiebreak against Brazil’s Vitoria Cristina Carneiro Marchezini and Marcela Vita before battling back to clinch a close encounter 6-3 4-6 [10-7] to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Asked what the difference was in the match tiebreak, Cimatti explained that their desire saw them through.
“I really wanted to win and did everything possible to give confidence to my partner,” said the 28-year-old. “Together we made it and we are really happy. It’s good for us to improve in the tournament so we will see in the quarter-finals, but after this victory we are happy and more confident than before.”
Cimatti and Nobile will face another all-Italian duo in the last 8 after the Romani twins, Michela and Noemi, knocked out the sixth seeds Eva D’Elia and Veronica Visani.
No. 2 seeds Giulia Gasparri and Ninny Valentini felt like they were seeing the ball much better on day two in Terracina as they swept past Russia’s Sophia Romanova and Polina Soldatenkova.
Valentini said: “Today was better and the weather was better, not so hot, so I played good and I am happy for this. We are training to improve our game day by day.”
Their opponents in the next round will be Giulia Deiana and Alice Grandi, who toppled fifth seeds and one half of the 2019 women’s world champions Maraike Biglmaier and Veronica Casadei 6-2 3-6 [10-8].
“They are a good team,” added Valentini. “We have to stay focussed on the court because we have to play good and we have to play our game.”
Joana Cortez of Brazil and Flaminia Daina of Italy made light work of Gloria Alessandrelli and Claudia Lazzarini 6-2 6-1 to move into the quarter-finals, where they will face Maddalena Cini and Greta Giusti.
Daina is well aware of the threat posed by their quarter-final opponents, but believes the key to success will be to enjoy their beach tennis.
“They’re really good,” said Daina. “They’re focussed. It’s a big chance to get to the semis, but now we need to enjoy it and have fun. Step by step, we come here with the goal to have fun and have good feelings with the ball. Then you get the results. Every match is difficult. We’re going to give our best.”
Third seeds Patricia Diaz and former world No. 1 Rafaella Miiller continued their steady progress through the tournament with a comfortable 6-1 6-1 win against Ganesha Diaz and Dominique Hopman.
Miiller, who was one half of the 2019 women’s world champions, will be looking to defend her title alongside her regular partner, Diaz.
They will face Russia’s Daria Churakova and Liudmila Nikoian in the next round, which will take place alongside the men’s second round matches on Thursday.
Wednesday also saw the culmination of the mixed doubles event. Brazil's Miiller and Andre Baran prevailed 7-6(2) 6-3 in a tight match-up against Daina and Nikita Burmakin.
Miiller said: “We have played already three tournaments together and we won the three tournaments. It’s amazing. I like to play with him and he gives me confidence.
"The mind makes the difference, staying together in the match makes the difference. He likes to stay calm and I like to talk a lot!"