World No. 1s Giulia Gasparri (ITA), Ninny Valentini (ITA), Michele Cappelletti (ITA) and Antomi Ramos (ESP) headline a stellar list of players competing in this year’s ITF Beach Tennis World Cup on the Praia da Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, the flagship team competition on the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour.

Despite losing out in the final last year, Italy may well be the team to beat with an impressive 37 titles between the professional team members this year. Gasparri and Valentini have put together an imposing 64-5 record so far this year with eight titles including the recent Beach Tennis World Championships and two Sand Series titles. Captain Simona Bonadonna will be able to call on a formidable mixed pairing of Gasparri and Cappelletti who are respective World Champions and, between them, have claimed titles at all five Sand Series events this year.

A repeat showdown in the final from 2021 against Brazil may once again be the toughest challenge with a partisan crowd getting behind the home team. Captain Alex Mingozzi will be able to call upon Allan Oliveira who will be making his World Cup debut alongside Brazilian mainstays Andre Baran and Vini Font. Oliveira has had the best season of his career and picked up three titles along the way.

France will enter the World Cup high on confidence having picked up two of the three gold medals at last month’s European Beach Tennis Championships, with Nicolas Gianotti and Theo Irigaray upsetting top seeds Mattia Spoto and Michele Cappelletti in the final. Gianotti also won the mixed doubles with Marie-Eve Hoarau, adding to their silver medal at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in Doha, 2019.

Spain’s participation will be headlined by Antomi Ramos who has collected nine titles this year – more than any other player. He is very familiar with success for his home nation having claimed the gold medal with Gerard Rodriguez at the Beach Games in 2019.

Meanwhile, the Juniors will see some of the brightest young stars showcase their talents on the biggest stage. Italy will be looking to defend their title, but Brazil will be eager for revenge having been pipped to the post in the final last year, with Italy winning the mixed doubles deciding rubber in a match tie break.

The Beach Tennis World Cup (formerly known as the Beach Tennis World Team Championship) is a mixed competition in which 16 nations compete against each other as a team and is one of five ITF major events taking place in November to Remember. Each team is comprised of two men and two women with ties consisting of a men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and a mixed doubles match. The draw takes place on Monday 7 November with action underway from 9am local time (12pm GMT), streamed on N Sports. English commentary will be available from the Quarter-Finals on the ITF YouTube channel.