Athletes who are amongst the world’s elite of the sport, according to the current rankings (updated by August 12, 2019) will be taking part in the II Mediterranean Beach Games.
Tommaso GIOVANNINI (ΙΤΑ), No. 4 in the world and a finalist in the recent Beach Tennis World Championships in Terracina, Italy will be competing in “Patras 2019”. The Italian athlete was No. 1 in the world rankings and is the youngest to reach the highest position to date.
One position further down the rankings (No. 5) is Spain’s Antonio Miguel RAMOS, who will also be in Patras. Dennis VALMORI (Italy, No. 16), Mathieu GUEGANO (No. 18, France), Theo IRIGARAY (No. 18, France), Nicolas GIANOTTI (No. 21, France), Diego BOLLETINNARI (No. 22, Italy), Mattia SPOTO (No 27, Italy), Gerard RODRIGUEZ (No 33, Spain) and Giannis Dimopoulos (No 44, Greece) are also highly ranked.
Taking into account the athletes’ capabilities, the two pairs from Italy, Spain and France, respectively, are the favorites to qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s event. It is expected that the confrontations will be very close and all results are possible. The second French pair, as well as San Marino, Portugal and Greece’s first pair, have good hopes of making the final eight of the tournament.
Italy is expected to play a leading role in the women’s doubles as well, with highly ranked Nicole NOBILE, who is No. 6 in the world. High on the list are also the following athletes: Ninny Jannika VALENTINI (No 17, Italy), Veronica CASADEI (No 18, Italy), Alice GRANDI (No 21, San Marino), Sabrina Lopez GARCIA (No 22, Spain), Eva Fernandez PALOS (No 30, Spain), Greta GIOUSTI (No 34, Italy), Marika COLONNA (No 44, San Marino).