Germany, France and Italy star at 35-40-45 World Team Championships
Hosted this year in Lisbon, Portugal, the 2022 edition of the 35-40-45 World Team Championships saw 119 teams compete for the ultimate award on the ITF World Tennis Masters Tour: a World Championship gold medal.
An array of former ATP and WTA stars represented their countries in the Portuguese capital, including former world No. 10 Arnaud Clement and former world No. 38 and French teammate Marc Gicquel. On the women’s side, Alberta Brianti, with a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 55, flew the flag for Italy.
The best chance of a home win came in the M35 Italia Cup. Lining up with two former top 70 ATP players in Fred Gil and Rui Machado, much was expected of the Portuguese team. However, a strong Spanish side won an exciting decider in the semi-final tie, setting up a final against France. It was France who prevailed in the all-European clash, impressively seeing off their opponents with two straight-sets singles wins to claim the trophy.
In the Suzanne Lenglen Cup (W35), Germany and Italy faced off in a battle between two of the tournament’s star players, Brianti and Steffi Bachofer – a triple gold medallist at the 2021 individual event. Producing one of the most high-quality matches of the day, Brianti defeated Bachofer 6-1 3-6 6-4, to set up a deciding doubles rubber. Natali Gumbrecht had earlier given Germany the lead, defeating Annalisa Bona 6-2 6-2. Alberta Brianti and Lisa Sabino provided the perfect display in the doubles to lift the title for Team Italy.
The Tony Trabert Cup (M40) pitted Spain against Italy in another heavyweight clash. Alessandro Da Col got the ball rolling for Italy with a 6-4 6-3 win, before compatriot Massimo Ocera produced a battling 3-6 6-1 6-2 victory to seal the title for the Italians.
Germany enjoyed success in the Young Cup (W40), defeating the USA 2-0 to complete a dominant week. Gitte Moeller defeated Kaysie Smashey 6-3 7-6 to give Germany the lead, before Manon Kruse rolled to a 6-1 6-2 victory. The pair only dropped one set between them all week.
In perhaps the most anticipated match of the day, Spain and France battled it out for the (M45) Dubler Cup. The all-star French team of Clement and Gicquel lived up to their billing of pre-tournament favourites, winning two comfortable singles matches to clinch the gold medal. Gicquel’s 6-4 6-1 win over Roberto Menendez Ferre, a multiple world champion, was particularly impressive.
Finally, Germany produced a ruthless performance to defeat Spain 3-0 and lift the Margaret Court Cup (W45). Daniela Kalthoff and Susi Fortun Lohrmann dominated their singles matches, winning in straight sets to secure the title.
Attention now turns to the ITF Masters 30-35-40-45 World Individual Championships on 6-13 August, when players will battle it out for individual glory across the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events in Lisbon.
Click here for all 35-40-45 Team Cup results