Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/560492
34 ITFWORLD SUMMER 2015 SUMMER 2015 NEWS ROUND-UP Italy won its third ITF Beach Tennis World Team Championship in four years in July, but not before being given a scare by hosts Russia, who took Italy the distance in Moscow before losing in the third and final set of the third and final rubber, having defeated 2013 champions Brazil in the semifinals. Italy won the opening women's doubles, world No. 1s Federica Bacchetta and Sofia Cimatti defeating Julia Chubarova and Irina Glimakova 64 61. But the top Italian male duo of Alessandro Calbucci and Marco Garavini were below their usual high standard in the men's doubles and lost to Nikita Burmakin and Sergey Kuptsov 36 62 63. Russia took an opening set lead in the mixed doubles but Garavini and Bacchetta surged back to take the title with a 46 64 63 victory. "We didn't play our best beach tennis, but we have to say that the Russians have improved a lot since four years ago when they started to play," said Calbucci. They have been improving so much and now they are maybe the ITALY REIGNS IN ITF BEACH TENNIS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS ROLEX EXTENDS DAVIS CUP SPONSORSHIP Rolex will continue as an international sponsor of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, remaining as the Official Timekeeper of the competition through 2018. "All of us at the ITF are very pleased that Rolex has decided to continue as an international sponsor of Davis Cup by BNP Paribas for an additional three years," said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. "We have worked closely with them since 2007 and know that their values and ours are very close. Davis Cup has demanded the very best from the players over its 115-year history and this very much ties in with Rolex's commitment to quality and heritage. We look forward to working with them to expand their position in Davis Cup and know that we have an excellent partner in Rolex." BNP PARIBAS WORLD TEAM CUP GOES TO TOKYO The 2016 BNP Paribas World Team Cup will be held in Tokyo at the Ariake Colosseum, the first time that wheelchair tennis's team event will be staged in Japan and only the second time that it will be held in Asia. The event will be take place 23-28 May. The Ariake Colosseum will stage the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Tennis Events when the Games go to Tokyo in five years' time. It regularly hosts Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties, in addition to the Japan Open ATP event. second or the third movement of the world." Calbucci and Garavini survived that wobble, but two weeks later lost their crown at the ITF Beach Tennis World Championships for doubles pairs in Cervia, Italy, having won the title for the previous two years. Their reign was ended in a tight semifinal by another Italian duo, Michele Cappelleti and Matteo Marighella, who went on to win the title, beating compatriots Marco Antonelli and Luca Cramarossa 76 60 in the final. It was also all change in the women's event, as Italy's Flaminia Daina and Giulia Gasparri won their first World Championships title after ousting top pair Bacchetta and Cimatti in the semis. Daina and Gasparri defeated Germany's Maraike Biglmaier and Patricia Diaz of Venezuela 64 61 in the decider, Biglmaier and Diaz having become the first non-Italian women's team to reach the final in the seven-year history of the event. ITF REVEALS COMMITMENT AWARD HONOURS BOARD An Honours Board listing the players to have earned the Davis Cup Commitment Award has been unveiled at the ITF headquarters in London. It was officially revealed by ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti and ITF Executive Vice President Juan Margets in June. The Davis Cup Commitment Award is presented by the ITF to players who have shown long-standing dedication to representing their country. Each Award recipient has competed in a minimum of 20 home or away ties or 50 ties at any level of the competition (including Zone Group III and IV events). Italy's Giulia Gasparri and Flaminia Daina