«Very happy for Berrettini: yesterday we got a great player back, he's the one who started a cycle».
Thus the president of Fitp, Angelo Binaghi, in Cagliari, on the occasion of the presentation of the Sardinia Open tennis which will be played from 29 April.
«Berrettini is a great guy», he continued, «he also demonstrated it by following Davis' team when he couldn't play. A strong player, with great charisma and humanity: now he will also be useful to us on clay and grass, he is a specialist. Then with him we also have to defend the Davis Cup."
The Sardinia Open
The great Davis champions, Musetti, Arnaldi and Sonego. More Berrettini, fresh from victory in Marrakech: much will depend on the path to the Madrid tournament. And the winner of last edition, Humbert. They will be the protagonists on the red clay courts of Monte Urpinu, of the 2024 edition of the Challenger 175 "Sardinia Open", from 29 April to 5 May at the Cagliari Tennis club.
The formula is that of Challenger 175, inaugurated in Italy in the Sardinian capital last year: the prize money is 205 thousand euros with a draw of 28 for singles and 16 pairs for doubles. I n the 2023 edition Humbert won, now 14 ATP. While Shelton, now number 16, stopped in the semifinals.
«It's a great moment for Italian tennis, we are at the highest point in the history of this sport», said Binaghi, « we have won five trophies in the last few months. When before we struggled to win one. But the whole movement is going well as demonstrated by the ticket sales for the Rome Internationals and the growth in the number of members."
Now Cagliari: «It will be an opportunity to see all the big Italians except Sinner who cannot play these tournaments. Then some great foreign players. Besides Humbert, among others Shapovalov and Goffin. It will be an unforgettable tournament." An opportunity also for Carboni from Alghero: for him a wild card for the qualifiers. Paolo Lorenzi, director of the 2023 edition, is convinced: «Cagliari won a bet» he said, « because this type of tournament didn't exist before: it was a success. Just scroll through the entry list: there are players of great quality."
To confirm the athletes, however, we will have to wait for the early stages of the Madrid tournament: some could go ahead and stay in Spain.
(Unioneonline)
