ITF

Under the floodlights on Italy's Adriatic Riviera, top seeds Bacchetta and Gasparri battled back from a break down in the second set to overpower Flaminia Daina – a member of the soon-to-be defeated Italy team in Moscow – and Sofia Cimatti 26 64 63. It was the second successive year that Daina and Cimatti had lost to the same opponents in an all- Italian final, but the tide had appeared to be turning until a foot-fault – picked up by the newly-installed line judges who were debuting at this tournament in a bid to improve the consistency of the rule – at 40-40 with them leading by a set and a break in the second set. Daina was unimpressed as momentum switched. "The match changed at 42," admitted Bacchetta. "If we had changed ends at 52, it would have been really, really hard. But step by step, we tried to find some energy together to be focused, and finally reached the title." Now the prospect of a hat-trick of titles beckons. Bacchetta and Gasparri are united in the belief that they could prove an irresistible force should they showcase the same levels of improvement in the coming months as they have since their previous coronation. "Last year, everything was new. But now we have found more feeling and we feel good together," said Bacchetta, while Gasparri added: "Now we play better than last year." Meanwhile, it is often said that history is made at night and shortly after the clock struck one in the morning, Antomi Ramos Viera became the first Spaniard to add his name to the World Champion honour roll. Luca Cramarossa in acrobatic action ITFWorld // SUMMER 2018 23 Ramos Viera and Italian partner Mikael Alessi defeated Tommaso Giovannini, also of Italy, and Russia's Nikita Burmakin 75 76(5). Ramos Viera said: "I'm very, very proud to be the first in the history of my country [to win a beach tennis world title]. "Now let's see if I can reach this stage in other tournaments and go up the rankings." But in a week of thrilling upsets, none of beach tennis's so-called 'Big Four' – Italian quartet Luca Cramarossa, Marco Garavini, Michele Cappelletti and Luca Carli – reached the final. Top seeds Cramarossa and Garavini were defeated in the semifinals, 76(5) 62, by Giovannini and Burmakin, while Ramos Viera and Alessi accounted for two-time and defending champions Cappelletti and Carli 26 76(2) 64 at the same stage. The other prizes were claimed by Theo Irigaray and Nicole Nobile, who were crowned mixed doubles champions, while Italy secured a clean sweep of under-14, under-16 and under-18 boys' titles in the junior event. There was further Italian success in the girls' under-14 category as Llaria Grandi and Giulia Renzi prevailed, as the under-16 and under-18 titles went to Russia and Spain respectively. For Ekaterina Glazkova and Anna Romanova of Russia, it was a third gong at the championships in as many years, while Sabrina Lopez Garcia and Carla Marrero Suarez won Spain's maiden beach tennis world championship title of the junior game in the under-18 category. ■ Flaminia Daina and her partner, Sofia Cimatti, lost in the final Russia's Irina Glimakova is a picture of concentration Ramos Viera, Alessi, Bacchetta and Gasparri with their trophies

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