Cagliari, all set for the Italian Second Division Championships

Just a few months after the Challenger and Matteo Arnaldi's victory (reviving his Sardinian advancement to the Roland Garros semifinals), Cagliari remains the capital of national tennis: from Friday, July 17th to Sunday, July 26th, the TC Cagliari courts will host the Italian Second Category Championships. But that's not all: immediately afterward, the Monte Urpinu club will also be taking to the international stage with the 2006 Tennis Europe Cup by Dunlop (Summer Cup) qualifiers for continental under-18s, in a group comprising Italy, Israel, Andorra, Greece, Monaco, Poland, and Spain. All this while awaiting the 2027 edition of Challenger 175 (tickets are already on sale).
Now come the Championships that award the men's tennis title and annually launch players who go on to achieve national and international prominence. The latest example is Gianluca Cadenasso, a semifinalist at the Challenger in May, but three years earlier he had played at Monte Urpinu for the National Second Team.
Eighty players entered for a prize pool of €13,000. This is the eighth consecutive year that the Sardinian capital has hosted the event. It's a showcase, but also an opportunity for schools and clubs from across Italy to network. Aside from Sardinia (twenty-five players), the most represented region is Lazio with eleven participants. Then come Campania (with many players from Neapolitan clubs) and Emilia-Romagna with eight, followed by five each from Tuscany and Lombardy. Numerous regions are represented, from Sicily to Piedmont, from Veneto to Puglia, from Marche to Calabria.
Syracusan Alessandro Ingarao is once again the man to beat: he's been king in Cagliari for the past four years: in 2025, he clinched a poker of titles with his fourth consecutive title. Last year, however, after three straight wins, he missed out on the doubles title. This year, he'll have to be especially wary of Alessandro Ragazzi, a still-form 30-year-old who won an ITF title in Egypt four years ago. But Nicolas Bianchi could also pose a problem for the Sicilian: the Italian-Argentine, defeated in the final of the last edition, returns to Sardinia seeking revenge. Watch out for the other two-and-a-half: Marco Dessì (Sardinian who plays in Puglia), Alessandro Scialla, Giuseppe Caparco, and Tommaso Gabrielli. Among the hosts, keep an eye on the two Cagliari TCs Nicola Porcu and Lorenzo Rocco (already called up to the Italian youth team). The tournament director is Andrea Lecca.
"It will be a July of great tennis at TC Cagliari. The Summer Cup and the Italian Second Category Championships are two highly prestigious events, both internationally and nationally," explains TC Cagliari President Lodovica Binaghi. "The Italian Championships, in particular, will offer Sardinian athletes an important opportunity to compete against the best players from across Italy, competing on our island and without having to pay for travel. For our club, this represents a significant organizational and financial commitment, which we will undertake with enthusiasm and a great sense of responsibility. We are confident that our efforts will be rewarded by the satisfaction of the athletes, coaches, supporters, and all those who will have the pleasure of experiencing these events in the splendid setting of Sardinia and TC Cagliari. It will be a month of tennis, passion, and sharing, capable of enhancing our region and confirming TC Cagliari as a benchmark for Italian and international tennis."