Gianotti and Spoto retain Saarlouis title, and No. 1 ranking
The market square in Saarlouis, Germany saw a dramatic showdown on Saturday 17 August as Nicolas Gianotti and Mattia Spoto, the current world No. 1 pair, saved a match point against Brazilian duo Giovanni Cariani and Daniel Mola on their way to retaining not only the men’s Saarlouis title, but their spot at the top of the ITF world rankings.
It was an unexpected final match-up after world No. 2 pair Andre Baran and Michele Cappelleti were knocked out in the quarter-finals by seventh seeds Mathieu Guegano and Hugo Paronetto Russo, 7-6, 6-3.
Meanwhile the top seeds, Gianotti and Spoto, sailed through to the final without dropping a set before they squared up to the No. 6 seeds on centre court.
The Brazilians won the first set 7-5 before the defending champions pulled back to one set all. Spectators, players, and reporters alike, watched on as the world No. 1 pair fought furiously to retain their title. At match point down in the championship tie break a stellar smash straight down the middle kept Gianotti and Spoto in the game. The pair went on to clinch the title on their second match point, triumphing 5-7, 7-5, 12-10.
Gianotti described the final as ‘emotional’.
"We love to play against Giovanni and Daniel as they are very good friends, but we hate to play against them because they are very, very good," he said.
The women’s draw was not without its share of upsets, defending champions, Patricia Diaz and Rafaella Miiller were also knocked out in the quarter finals by No. 5 seeds Veronica Casadei and Ariadna Costa Graell.
The Italian-Spanish duo weren’t done there, as they went on to eliminate No. 3 seeds Flaminia Daina, and Nicole Nobile in the semi-finals 4-6, 7-6, 10-4.
Casadei and Costa Graell continued their fine form as they went 6-5 up in the first set of the final against Sophia Chow and Vitoria Marchezini. However, Chow and Marchezini fought hard to win that all-important game to take the first set to a tie-break, eventually winning the match 7-6, 6 -2.
With Chow and Marchezini on a winning streak, they will be surely looking to continue their run with their eyes firmly set on the Sao Paulo Sand Series in October.
The Sand Series consists of the premier tournaments on the ITF Beach Tennis World Tour, designed to provide the top players with opportunities to gain more ranking points and greater prize money.
Sand Series 2024
11 – 14 April: Ribeirão Preto
10 – 12 May: Réunion Classic
17 – 19 May: Gran Canaria Classic
13 – 15 June: Brasília Classic
15th – 17th August: Saarlouis Classic
10th – 12th October: São Paulo
15th – 17th November: Aruba