With the meetings of qualifications Sunday 16th (from 10am) officially kicks off on the clay courts of the Queen’s Club of Cattolica The ITF Future men’s tournament ‘The Over’s Guys’ with prize pool of $25,000 (free entry for the entire duration of the event).
Twelve months after the debut of the “Queen of the Adriatic” on the international stage, great professional tennis returns to the sports center built in the area of the old Tennis Club in via Leoncavallo (adjacent to the Giorgio Calbi municipal stadium).
I’m well there 28 Italians among the 32 players chasing eight passes to the main draw, which will instead start with the first four matches on Monday afternoon, the day on which the matches of the decisive qualifying round are also scheduled. Among these, in particular, in a Romagna key, the Rimini people Alberto Bronzetti (cousin of Lucia, fresh from qualifying for the Paris Olympics where she will compete in singles and doubles) and Alberto Morolliimmediately called to a “derby” with the Ravenna team Alessandro Dragoniand the Riccione area Jacopo Antonelliborn in 2006, recipient of a wild card as well as Michele Mecarelliboth students of the Academy led by Giorgio Galimbertiwho also holds the role of tournament director alongside the ITF supervisor Pier Luigi Grana. The other invitations for the qualifiers went to the very young players (without ATP points) Pierluigi Basile, Matteo Sciahbasi And Mattia Pozzi.
Leading the list of contenders for success, as announced in Friday’s press conference, is the German Tim Handelplaced just outside the Top 350, followed by the Riccione Marcello Serafini (n.377 ATP), semi-finalist twelve months ago and looking for a prestigious result to continue his rise, and by the Spaniard Carlos Lopez Montagud, who performed well in the first edition, reaching the quarter-finals. They also aspire to a leading role Andrea Picchione (n.405) e Francesco Forti (n.408), who has just returned to the tour after a six-month stoppage due to injury, two players who are based in Cattolica followed by the staff of the former Azzurri davisman, as well as Giovanni Oradini (n.409) and German Marko Topo (n.423).
The other player from Riccione is also among the players most awaited by local fans Alessandro Pecciwinner of his first ITF title last month in Cervia, the other from Romagna Daniel Bagnolini and the Rimini area Manuel Mazza (Tc Viserba), to which is added Filippo Mazzolaa young man from the Marche region who trains at the Galimberti Tennis Academy, “rewarded” for his progress with a wild card for the main draw.
The tournament will always include an evening match from Monday, at 9pm, on the Central court, set up with ad hoc stands and equipped with an enhanced lighting system, a stimulating proposition both for tourists on beach holidays and for tennis lovers in the area. from Romagna and Marche, who wish to follow the competition live. The only exception is Friday, when the semi-finals will be played in the late afternoon because a gala evening was then organized for the event’s partner sponsors, while the singles final is scheduled Saturday at 6pm.
The tournament poster
Giorgio Galimberti
