ITF launches the 1st Beach Tennis World Championships 2009 in Rome 4-6 May

Beach Tennis in the surroundings of Foro Italico in Rome 2008

The ITF has announced that the Italian Tennis Federation (FIT) will host the inaugural ITF Beach Tennis World Championships in Rome on 4-6 May 2009. The championships will be held at the historic Foro Italico, alongside the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event being played in Rome the same week.

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The Foro Italico was also the venue for the first ever tournament on the ITF Beach Tennis Tour in 2008. Beach tennis merges the disciplines of tennis and beach volleyball into a single sport. Predominantly played as doubles on a court of similar size to beach volleyball, players use paddle bats and a slightly depressurised tennis ball.

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Regular tennis scoring is used, with no-advantage at deuce, no second serve and no let, and the ball does not bounce.The World Championships will be the showpiece event on a fast-expanding beach tennis calendar. Italy, Spain and Portugal hosted events on last year’s tour, but already in 2009 have been joined by tournaments in Poland, Germany and Japan.

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It is expected that the 2009 ITF Beach Tennis Tour will offer total prize money of around 100,000 Euros. Acceptance for the 2009 Championships will be based on the latest ITF Beach Tennis World Rankings. A number of Italian teams will challenge for the title, led by 2008 ITF Beach Tennis Tour Champions, Marco Garavini and Paolo Tazzari, and Simona Briganti and Rossella Stefanelli, who topped the respective 2008 year-end world rankings after 15 events.

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With Beach Tennis gaining popularity worldwide, wild cards will be awarded to teams from countries not yet competing regularly on the tour, whose players will have an opportunity to establish themselves on the ITF World Rankings in the coming months.

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ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “Beach Tennis is a unique and fun alternative way of playing the sport, which we hope will widen the appeal of the sport to players of all ages. We are delighted that the Beach Tennis Tour has already grown so quickly, and the World Championships, organised by the FIT will help attract additional interest in the sport.”

ITF