Tricky opener for Cappelletti-Ramos for Sand Series Ribeirao
The inaugural Sand Series Ribeirão Preto set some intriguing opening round ties after last night’s draw in the state of São Paulo.
Top seeds, world No. 1s and winners of the first Sand Series of the year at the Réunion Classic, Antomi Ramos and Michele Cappelletti will look to get their season back on track after an opening round loss at last week’s BT400 Pure Beach.
The draw was unkind to them, facing recent BT200 Indaiatuba winner Leonardo Garrossino Branco, who is pairing up with Joao Wiesinger, also a winner this year on Beach Tennis World Tour at the BT200 Ras Al Khaimah 2. Should they navigate their trick opener, former World Number One Luca Cramarossa and Allan Oliveira will await in the second round.
Last week’s BT400 Pure Beach Winners Nicolas Gianotti and Mattia Spoto might not have long to wait for a rematch of that final, with Hugo Paranetto Russo and Gabriel Santos waiting for them in the second round should they beat the Venezuelan pair of Eduardo Garay and Diego Guzman.
Last week saw Gianotti and Spoto edge out the Brazilian pair in a thrilling final where they dropped the opening set before emerging victorious 10-8 in the match tie break. There could be other familiar foes for the French-Italian pair should they progress to the semi-finals where they are slated to again face Nikita Burmakin and Andre Baran. They have split their last two encounters with the pair this month, losing out in the final at the BT400 Abu Dhabi before a convincing win last week at the BT400 Pure Beach. Baran and Burmakin have a tricky opener themselves, facing Gerard Rodriguez Querol and facing Guillaume Leruste .
Meanwhile on the women’s side, Reunion Classic Champions and World Number Ones Giulia Gasparri and Ninny Valentini will be looking to put last week’s first loss of the season behind them when they open up against qualifiers Manuella De Tommaso and Isabela Massaioli de Sousa. Last week saw Patricia Diaz and Rafaella Miiller snap the Italian’s 29 match winning streak, stretching back to the end of last year. In fact, Gasparri and Valentini had not lost to either player since the Reunion Classic final last March, including beating them at last year’s World Championships. They are slated to face off in the semi-finals this week, should both teams progress.
On the bottom half of the draw, second seeds Sofia Cimatti and Nicole Nobile will be looking to capture their first title of the season having been Runners Up at their first two tournaments of the season at BT200 Guaruja and the Reunion Classic. Last week they were edged out in a thriller, falling 11-13 in the match tie break to Eva Fernandez Palos and Vitoria Marchezini
Teams will be wary of unseeded former World Number Ones Maraike Biglmaier and Joana Cortez in that section of the draw, in particular Flaminia Daina and Sophia Chow who edged out a tight encounter against the pair in the quarter-finals in Reunion this year where they lost the opening set before prevailing 10-7 in a match tie break against the German-Brasilian pairing. They are slated to face each other in Round Two should both teams successfully navigate their opening match,
The Sand Series Ribeirao Preto will feature live scoring as well from the first round as well as live streaming from the quarter-finals onwards with more information available on the tournament page.