Defending champions Giulia Gasparri and Ninny Valentini are through to the quarter-finals of the 2022 ITF Beach Tennis World Championships after a comfortable 6-0 6-3 victory against Daria Churakova and Irina Glimakova.

The Italians, who have now won seven matches in a row in Terracina, know they have their work cut out for them this year as Valentini is struggling with a shoulder injury - so much so that she had to serve underarm for the duration of the encounter on Wednesday.

But Terracina holds special memories for the pair, especially after victory in 2021.

"I love to play here in Terracina," said Gasparri. "For me, this place is special. I hope to win again this year. It’s not easy because the level [of the opposition] increases year by year and my partner is not 100 per cent, but we try to do our best to win the title again."

The only one of the top 8 seeds not to make it through to the quarter-finals is all-Italian pairing Michela and Roemi Romani. Their victors, Eva Fernandez Palos and Sabrina Lopez Garcia of Spain, will be up next for top seeds Gasparri and Valentini.

"For us, every day is the same," added Gasparri. "We try to focus every day because every match could be hard."

The top women's players will get the morning off from main draw matches on Thursday as attention shifts to the men's second round.

Much like with the women, the only seeds not to make it through the first round of the men's competition were beach tennis legends Vini Font and Marco Garavini, who were seeded eighth this year. Font and Garavini were downed by Airton Rodrigues Macedo and Aksel Samardzic 6-3 6-2.

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