Some of the biggest names in Beach Tennis will be in action in Crete later this month at the 15th European Beach Tennis Championships.
Both draws will be led by the current world #1s, Nicolas Giannotti of France and Giulia Gasparri of Italy, each of whom will be aiming to defend the titles they won in 2022.
Giannotti will team with 2018 champion Mathieu Guegano while his partner in victory last year, Theo Irigaray, will play alongside Paul Gotarda. In a men’s draw that features five of the Top 10 ITF World Beach Tennis Tour players, their primary opposition is likely to come from Italy. 2022 silver medallist and world #2 Mattia Spoto will team with last year’s 18&U champion Niccolo Gasparri, while the world #11 and #12 Doriano Beccaccioli & Tommaso Giovannini will also make a formidable team.
Tournament veteran and world #6 Antonio Ramos Viera will again team with Gerard Rodriguez Querol to provide Spain’s best hope of medal. The pair finished fourth in 2022 and claimed a silver medal in 2019.
The women’s draw sees four of the world’s Top 10 players in action, all of them representing Italy. Gasparri is scheduled to pair up with Sofia Cimatti, who she beat for the gold medal last year. The three-time defending champion is looking to extend an incredible run of having won a gold or silver medal at every edition of the tournament since 2015.
Cimatti’s partner in 2022, Nicole Nobile, is searching for her first EBTC title after claiming three silver medals and will this time pair with three-time former champion Flaminia Daina.
Teams from France, Germany, Spain, San Marino and Portugal all field Top 50 players and will be amongst their leading challengers. Ranked #13 and #15 respectively, Eva Fernandez Palos & Ariadna Costa Graell will be highly seeded and hoping to secure Spain’s first ever women’s medal.
The Hellenic Tennis Federation will be hosting the event for a second year, with the action taking place from 28 September to 1 October at the Karteros Beach Sports Centre. 20 Tennis Europe member nations will be represented on court.
From 25-27 September the Championships will be preceded by two Beach Tennis competitions for juniors, one for players aged 14 & Under and one for players aged 18 & Under.
Nominations
EBTC (Men & Women) | 14 & Under | 18 & Under