A final balance of the Sardinia ITF Tournaments 2024

298 tennis players from all over the world and overall 777 matches for the twelfth edition of Sardinia ITF Tournaments, that before 2024 never excited like this keeping the audience at Tennis Forte Village ASD Sports Academy in Santa Margherita di Pula with bated breath.

The highly anticipated tennis tournaments of the ITF Combined 2024 edition in Santa Margherita di Pula ended on Sunday, October 27 evening, part of the series of competitions arranged by the ITF (International Tennis Federation) which, from Monday, September 16, for over six weeks, thrilled and kept the audience of enthusiasts and onlookers present at the ASD Sports Academy in Forte Village with bated breath.

A competition that for twelve years has been made possible by the collaboration between the ASD tennis academy by Forte Village, a five-star resort that, thanks to its excellent sports academies, including much-loved ones dedicated to padel, basketball, swimming and surely the one aiming at training new tennis stars, has always been the spokesperson for a concept of “active” holiday, and the Sardinia Region’s Department of Tourism, Crafts and Commerce.

A virtuous “bond”, which has always had the ambition of enhancing the southern side of the Island, with its unpolluted nature, its natural beauty and its cutting-edge sports facilities, as an excellent destination for lovers of high-level sports and outdoor activities and, at the same time, of providing an important springboard for young tennis talents.

Week after week, 298 participants from 41 countries across five continents challenged each other on the twelve red courts within the facility, framed by over 50 hectares of beautiful nature, characterized by an amazing natural biodiversity, located in a magnificent location right next to some of the most beautiful beaches in Sardinia.

ITF Tournaments 2024: 298 participants and 41 countries for the most adrenaline-filled edition ever

Leading the group of athletes competing in the ITF tournaments, both singles and doubles, were the 167 Italian participants, including a large Sardinian representation, with 12 tennis players participating in men’s tournaments and 10 in women’s, including qualifications and appearances in the main doubles draw. Standing out among the first group, Lorenzo Carboni, who played two main draws (winning two matches and losing two) and one qualification, but also Niccolò Dessì (who together with his brother Marco participated, although without winning, in three doubles tournaments) and Matteo Mura, who after the qualification achieved on Sunday, October 15, was defeated in the first round. Honorable mention also for local athletes competing to sisters Barbara and Marcella Dessolis, with two participations in doubles, and one each for Sofia Del Balzo Ruiti and Beatrice Zucca.

In addition to the Italians, there were 110 players from 27 European countries, including Germany (16), Bulgaria and Romania (8), Czech Republic, Spain and Ukraine (7), Greece and Switzerland (6), Austria (5), and Belgium, France and Great Britain (4). Countries such as Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia were also present with 3 players each, while Bosnia, Finland, Georgia, Netherlands and Sweden had 2, and Croatia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, San Marino and Hungary had just 1.

From America, 15 players came to the island representing seven nations, including the United States with 7 participants, followed by Argentina and Uruguay (2) and Brazil, Canada, Chile and Haiti (1). 3 representatives from Africa, respectively for Burundi, Morocco and South Africa, while Asia brought 2 players from India and Iran to the tennis courts. And then, only 1 participant, but really relevant, from Oceania, the Australian Tina Nadine Smith.

An incredible success, therefore, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, given the very high level of the athletes involved and of the competition, which confirmed the leading role of Sardinian tournaments within the international tennis scene.

Sardinia ITF Tournaments, where the greatest tennis legends rise

At stake for the athletes not only the victory of the tournaments, but also – perhaps above all – the possibility of earning key points for the ATP and WTA rankings, the official classification systems that define the position of players in the professional men’s and women’s circuits respectively, and so pave their way towards more prestigious competitions such as Grand Slams and the ATP 500 and 1000.

It’s no coincidence that on Santa Margherita di Pula’s clay courts some of the greatest champions of contemporary tennis emerged, including South Tyrolean star Jannik Sinner, holder of the first position in the ATP ranking, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, no. 2 in the world in autumn 2022, the “strongest Norwegian champion ever” Casper Ruud, yet our owns Lorenzo Musetti, Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego, who won their first major titles here, laying the very foundations for their international careers.

During the last editions of the event, women’s tennis has instead shone with great stars such as Czech Barbora Krejcikova, world’s no. 2 and winner of Roland Garros in 2021, Spanish Paula Badosa, Greek Maria Sakkari, Canadian Bianca Andreescu and Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, but even Italian champions such as Jasmine Paolini, winner of the WTA 1000 in Dubai 2024 and gold at Paris Olympics paired with Sara Errani, and Martina Trevisan, who has won half of her titles on clay courts in here.

ITF Tournaments 2024: an autumn season full of surprises and great emotions

Twelve combined tournaments (six women’s and six men’s) and a prize money of €300.000 (€25.000 for each one) and endless twists and turns for a record-breaking competition, with a succession of 777 matches over this month and a half: Sardinia ITF Tournaments 2024 have recently come to an end, but the emotions and memories of this event that has animated Sardinian autumn sports season for over a decade will certainly be hard to forget, between great confirmations and many surprises.

First of all, the one concerning the winner of men’s singles, Spanish Daniel Rincon, born in 2003, who conquered the top step of the podium in an adrenaline-filled match ended 3-1 versus German Diego Dedura-Palomero, who’s just 16 years old and so one of the youngest talents competing. The win in men’s doubles went to Italian duo Simone Agostini and Gianluca Cadenasso, protagonists of a breathtaking final, decided at the ultimate serve, against their fellows Giorgio Ricca and Augusto Virgili.

The triumph in women’s singles is once again Spanish, Carlota Martinez Cirez, born in 2001, fresh from another great victory at the W35 in Reus, Catalonia, who beat the Italian national champion Nicole Fossa Huergo in the second match. Finally, in women’s doubles, the victory went to Greek-Swedish pair made of the talented Sapfo Sakellaridi and Lisa Zaar, respectively no. 164 and 323 in the world for doubles, who concluded the match in just two sets, beating the team of Romanian Andreea Prisacariu and Italian Federica Urgesi.

Also noteworthy are the excellent achievements by Polish Daniel Michalski in men’s singles, with a record of five titles won in just three years on the Forte Village courts, in addition to the notable performances of Spanish Carlos Sanchez Jover, Ukrainian Oleksandr Ovcharenko, Jay Clarke, and the varied pool formed by Czech Julie Struplova, Austrian Julia Grabher, and Perugian Matilde Paoletti, as regards women’s singles. Unlike past editions and despite the possibility of competing in multiple consecutive tournaments, no player managed to win two titles in a row in singles, a fact that highlights the increasingly high quality of the matches and the athletes in the competition.

The Italian Julian Ocleppo stood out in men’s doubles, with two victories got respectively with Andrea Picchione and Giovanni Oradini, but also the pair formed by Dominik Kellovsky and Martin Krumich, who dominated the third tournament, and the duo Alessandro Spadola and Matteo Vavassori, who stood out in the fourth one instead. Honorable mention goes to two very young Italian tennis players, Tobia Costanzo Baragiola Mordini (born in 2006) and Paolo Schiavone (born in 2004), winning their first world championship points in this cycle of tournaments, thus entering the ATP doubles ranking for the first time.

In the highest part of women’s doubles draw, the pairs formed by Spanish Aliona Bolsova with Dutch Eva Vedder, Polish Daria Kuczer together with Swedish Lisa Zaar, Greek Sapfo Sakellaridi with Romanian Arina Vasilescu and the Italian duo made by Anastasia Abbagnato and Miriana Tona alternated in the championship.

With new stars emerging and increasingly tough competitions, the expectation for the next edition of the ITF tournaments in Santa Margherita di Pula and the tennis tournaments scheduled for the summer season is already palpable. All that remains is to wait and, why not, start planning a stay at the Forte Village Resort, in sight of its reopening next spring.

It is undoubtedly the best place to enjoy the exciting matches played in Sardinia, but also its wide range of services dedicated to well-being and entertainment for adults and children, for example creative and manual workshops like Barbie Academy and the educational garden or the regenerating and relaxing thalassotherapy treatments by Acquaforte Thalasso & Spa, a true temple where to take care of body and mind wellness, and also the vast choice of starred restaurants hosted within the resort, including Belvedere by Giuseppe Molaro, Terrazza San Domenico by Massimiliano Mascia and Beachcomber by Heinz Beck.

For further information on the reopening of the Resort and for booking a stay, please phone call to +390709218818 or write an email to holiday@fortevillage.com.

Do you want to breathe the magic of sport and experience a dream vacation in a true paradise? Discover Forte Village Resort in Sardinia