Great tennis returns to Italy and does so in style thanks to the first Challenger 175 category tournament scheduled in Europe, after the recent debut in Phoenix, Arizona, with Matteo Berrettini on the draw.
From May 1st to 7th (qualifying on April 29th and 30th), in fact, on the red clay courts of the Tennis Club Cagliari a tasty appetizer of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia will be staged, which this year at the Foro Italico in Rome will occupy two weeks starting May 8.
Cagliari represents an unmissable appointment for racket enthusiasts because these new events on the ATP calendar - already nicknamed "Super Challenger" - have been designed precisely to offer great entertainment and are presented as tournaments much more similar to the ATP 250 than to the category they lead to. the name.
Last September, the Association that regulates the men's world professional circuit (ATP) launched the radical reform of the Challenger circuit for the 2023 season which provides for a record increase in the prize money and the simplification of the categories which have been reduced from six to four - Challenger 50, 75, 100 and 125 - and five "premium" events have been added to these: the Challenger 175, in fact, which also includes another stage in Italy, in Turin from 14 to 20 May. There will therefore be 195 second-level tournaments this year (against 182 in 2022) for a total amount of $21.1 million in prize money (against $13.2 million in 2022, equal to +60%).
The density of Challengers in Italy (28 were played in 2022) is one of the secrets of the success of our men's tennis in recent years, a rebirth envied and studied abroad. It is also thanks to the comfortable participation in these tournaments that the young Italian talents have managed to establish themselves and gain positions in the standings. In this sense, the commitment of the FITP is fundamental, which through the technical sector assigns wild cards to our emerging tennis players (invitations for the qualifying and main draws). It is no coincidence that currently five of the best 20 Next Gen in the world rankings, i.e. the Under 21 tennis players, are Italian.
The "Sardegna Open" will therefore be staged in the hometown of FITP President Angelo Binaghi and represents a unique opportunity to admire Italian tennis players up close, but also some big names in world tennis, especially those who have already concluded their commitment in the Masters 1000 in Madrid and that they will already be on the road that will take them to Rome. Players eliminated before the round of 16 in the Masters 1000 scheduled in the Spanish capital will be able to arrive in Cagliari.
It will be an opportunity to further extend the passion for tennis during the Internazionali BNL d'Italia period. The choice of Cagliari was not accidental because on the red clay of the Sardinian club, already home to numerous and successful Davis matches - how can we forget Paolo Cané's legendary victory against the then world number one Mats Wilander in the match against Sweden of 1990 - important pages have been written in the recent history of our tennis.
The triumph of the Pennetta-Schiavone-Vinci-Errani-Knapp dream team against Russia in the 2013 Fed Cup final and then the Italian double in the ATP 250 in 2021 (Lorenzo Sonego in singles and Sonego-Vavassori again in doubles), when the world was still anxious about the covid pandemic emergency, they are just two snapshots that tell the special relationship that links the Monte Urpinu club to great tennis. Bright and above all lucky images for the blue colors.