For the sport called "beach paddleball", see Matkot. For other sports called "paddleball", see Paddleball (sport).

Beach tennis
Players on action
Highest governing bodyInternational Federation Beach Tennis
First playedc. 1972 in Italy
Characteristics
Contactnone
Team memberssingles and doubles
Mixed-sexyes, separate tours and mixed doubles
Typeracket sport
Equipmentrackets, balls and net
Venueoutdoor
Presence
Country or regionWorldwide

Beach tennis is a game combining elements of tennis and volleyball and played on a beach.

Overview

Beach tennis is played in over 50 countries and by more than half a million people, with its greatest popularity occurring in Italy, Brazil and Spain. Beach tennis offers a highly aerobic cardio workout with low impact to the knees and joints because it is played on sand.

The sport preserves most of the rules and scoring of traditional tennis, though modifications have been made to adapt to movement around the sand court and to the faster pace of the game. As the ball may not touch the ground, the game is played entirely with volleys, which makes for a quicker game than does traditional tennis. Points start with a serve and end when the ball touches the ground, forcing players to dive to reach difficult plays in a similar manner used by volleyball players. The objective is to return the ball with only one hit so that it reaches the opposing side of the net.

A depressurized tennis ball, which travels more slowly through the air than does a regulation tennis ball, is used for beach tennis to allow for longer rallies. The sport is usually played by two-person teams on a regulation beach-volleyball court with a 5-foot-7-inch-high net.[1]

Beach tennis rackets and balls

History

Beach tennis emerged in Italy in the early 1970s when tennis players on vacation in Lido degli Estensi, in the Ferrara town of Comacchio, played using their rackets and the existing volleyball nets already installed on the beach.[2][3] The game was played for the first time with its current set of rules in Torredembarra, Spain in 1976. The first championship was played in Torredembarra in 1978. Since then (with few interruptions), it takes place on the same beach every year. Over the years, the sport spread to the beaches along the coast of Italy, and it is estimated that there are now more than 1,600 beach-tennis nets along the Italian coast in addition to a growing number of inland and indoor courts. There are an estimated 250,000 Italian beach tennis players.

The international spread

Beach tennis arrived on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro around 2008, and the sport now dominates about one-third of the beach-volleyball courts along the Brazilian coast, and there are more than 50,000 beach tennis players in Brazil. Most Brazilian tennis clubs have converted, or are converting, at least one traditional tennis court into a few beach-tennis courts.

Though originally played only on beaches, beach tennis is now played at tennis clubs, indoor beach tennis/volleyball warehouses, country clubs, resorts, gyms and sand arenas.

Some believe that the sport is entering its golden age following its recognition by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in 2010. The ITF now manages the most well-known and reputable international ranking of beach-tennis players. The ITF is allocating resources to the development of the sport and has set up exposition sand courts at professional tennis tournaments such as the Japan Open, Roland-Garros, the Australian Open and the US Open.

Top tennis players who have played beach tennis include Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Andy Murray, the Bryan brothers, Rafael Nadal and Gustavo Kuerten.

The ITF also supports beach tennis by sanctioning tournaments. In 2013, the ITF began to organize regional and world championships. By 2015, 89 official sanctioned tournaments were held worldwide annually, and thousands more unofficial tournaments are held around the world each year. In 2015 the Pan-American games were held in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil, with participants from 16 countries. Also in 2015, a team championship tournament was held in Moscow with participants from 28 countries, with adult, junior, male and female teams

In the United States

Beach tennis was formalized in the United States in 2005 by Marc Altheim,[4] who discovered the sport on a trip to Aruba in 2003.[4] The sport had been played there since 2000,[4] having been introduced by a Dutchman.[5] As of 2007, beach tennis had made progress toward acceptance as a mainstream sport, with an official standards organization known as Beach Tennis USA (BT USA). In 2007, BT USA reached television deals with the Tennis Channel and SNY, but the organization is no longer active. The Beach Tennis Association currently maintains player rankings and operates tournaments in Southern California.[6]

ITF Beach Tennis World Championship

Men's

Year[lower-alpha 1] Champion Runner-up Score in the final[lower-alpha 2] Semifinalists
2009Italy Riccardo De Filippi
Italy Marco Ludovici		Italy Luca Meliconi
Italy Paolo Tazzari		6–2, 6–2Italy Stefano Fiore / Italy Luca Giavanni
Italy Alan Maldini / Italy Cristiano Menighini
2010Italy Alan Maldini
Italy Luca Meliconi		Italy Massimiliano Corzani
Italy Luigi Mazzarone		6–4, 6–2Italy Francesco Ercoli / Italy Cristiano Menighini
Italy Alessandro Calbucci / Brazil Alex Mingozzi
2011Italy Alessandro Calbucci
Italy Luca Meliconi		Italy Marco Ludovici
Italy Gullio Petrucci		6–2, 6–1Italy Michele Cappelletti / Italy Luca Carli
Italy Fabrizio Avantaggiato / Italy Luca Cramarossa
2012Italy Marco Garavini
Italy Paolo Tazzari		Italy Alessandro Calbucci
Italy Luca Meliconi		6–2, 7-6(4)Italy Marco Faccini / Brazil Alex Mingozzi
Italy Luca Cramarossa / Italy Alex Maldini
2013Italy Alessandro Calbucci
Italy Marco Garavini		Italy Michele Cappelletti
Italy Luca Carli		7-6(7), 6-0Italy Luca Cramarossa / Italy Niccolo Strano
Italy Matteo Marighella / Italy Luca Meliconi
2014Italy Alessandro Calbucci
Italy Marco Garavini		Italy Luca Cramarossa
Italy Luca Meliconi		7-5, 6-2Italy Matteo Marighella / Italy Niccolo Strano
Italy Michele Cappelletti / Italy Luca Carli
2015Not held
2016Italy Michele Cappelletti
Italy Luca Carli		Italy Davide Benussi
Italy Alessia Chiodoni		6-3, 6-1Russia Nikita Burmakin / Italy Dennis Valmori
Brazil Marcus Ferreira / Brazil Thales Santos
2017Italy Michele Cappelletti
Italy Luca Carli		Italy Luca Cramarossa
Italy Marco Garavini		6-4, 6-1Italy Doriano Beccacioli / Italy Davide Benussi
Brazil Ralf Abreu / Brazil Diogo Chaves Donner Carneiro
2018Italy Mikael Alessi
Spain Antonio Miguel Ramos Viera		Russia Nikita Burmakin
Italy Tomasso Giovannini		7-5, 7-6(5)Italy Luca Cramarossa / Italy Marco Garavini
Italy Michele Cappelletti / Italy Luca Carli
2019Italy Alessandro Calbucci
Italy Michele Cappelletti		Russia Nikita Burmakin
Italy Tomasso Giovannini		6-3, 6-0Venezuela Ramón Guedez / Aruba Aksel Samardzic
France Nicolas Gianotti / Spain Antonio Miguel Ramos Viera
2021Russia Nikita Burmakin
Italy Tomasso Giovannini		Italy Doriano Beccaccioli
Italy Mattia Spoto		6-2, 4-6, [10-7]France Nicolas Gianotti / France Theo Irigaray
Brazil Andre Baran / Brazil Vinicius Font
2022Italy Michele Cappelletti
Spain Antonio Miguel Ramos Viera		France Nicolas Gianotti
Italy Mattia Spoto		3-6, 6-2, [10-7]Brazil Andre Baran / Russia Nikita Burmakin
Brazil Allan Oliveira / Brazil Thales Santos
2023Italy Mattia Spoto
France Nicolas Gianotti		Italy Michele Cappelletti
Spain Antonio Miguel Ramos Viera		7-5, 6-2Brazil Thales Santos / France Theo Irigaray
Venezuela Ramón Guedez / Venezuela Carlos Vigon

Women's

Year[lower-alpha 1] Champion Runner-up Score in the final[lower-alpha 2] Semifinalists
2009Italy Simona Briganti
Italy Rosa Stefanelli		Italy Franca Bruschi
Italy Laura Olivieri		1–6, 7-5, 6–2Brazil Joana Cortez / Brazil Aline Sokolik
Italy Claudia Di Marco / Italy Elena Vianello
2010Italy Federica Bacchetta
Italy Giulia Spazzoli		Italy Giorgia Gadoni
Italy Rosa Stefanelli		3-6, 6-3, 6-1Italy Simona Briganti / Italy Laura Olivieri
Italy Simona Bonadonna / Italy Sara Petrolesi
2011Italy Simona Briganti
Italy Laura Olivieri		Italy Simona Bonadonna
Italy Eva D'Elia		7-5, 6-4Italy Federica Bacchetta / Italy Giulia Spazzoli
Brazil Samanta Barijan / Brazil Joana Cortez
2012Italy Simona Briganti
Italy Laura Olivieri		Italy Federica Bacchetta
Italy Giulia Spazzoli		6-4, 4-6, 6-4Italy Sofia Cimatti / Italy Veronica Visani
Italy Simona Bonadonna / Italy Eva D'Elia
2013Italy Sofia Cimatti
Italy Veronica Visani		Italy Giorgia Gadoni
Italy Camilla Ponti		7-6(2), 7-6(4)Italy Arianna Carli / Italy Flaminia Daina
Venezuela Patricia Díaz / Italy Natascia Sciolti
2014Italy Federica Bacchetta
Italy Sofia Cimatti		Italy Martina Corbara
Italy Camilla Ponti		7-5, 4-6, 6-1Italy Violante Battistella / Italy Michella Zanaboni
France Marie-Eve Hoarau / France Mathilde Hoarau
2015Not held
2016Brazil Joana Cortez
Brazil Rafaella Miller		Italy Eva D'Elia
Italy Giulia Gasparri		2-6, 6-2, 6-3Italy Camilla Ponti / Italy Ninny Valentini
Russia Daria Churakova / Russia Irina Glimakova
2017Italy Federica Bacchetta
Italy Giulia Gasparri		Italy Sofia Cimatti
Italy Flaminia Daina		6-3, 5-7, 6-4Italy Eva D'Elia / Italy Veronica Visani
Brazil Joana Cortez / Brazil Rafaella Miller
2018Italy Federica Bacchetta
Italy Giulia Gasparri		Italy Sofia Cimatti
Italy Flaminia Daina		2-6, 6-4, 6-3Germany Maraike Biglmaier / Brazil Rafaella Miller
Italy Eva D'Elia / Italy Veronica Visani
2019Germany Maraike Biglmaier
Brazil Rafaella Miller		Italy Sofia Cimatti
Italy Giulia Gasparri		6-3, 1-6, 7-5Italy Eva D'Elia / Italy Veronica Visani
Italy Flaminia Daina / Italy Nicole Nobile
2020Not held
2021Italy Giulia Gasparri
Italy Ninny Valentini		Venezuela Patricia Díaz
Brazil Rafaella Miller		6-2, 6-3Italy Sofia Cimatti / Italy Nicole Nobile
Brazil Joana Cortez / Italy Flaminia Daina
2022Italy Giulia Gasparri
Italy Ninny Valentini		Venezuela Patricia Díaz
Brazil Rafaella Miller		7-5, 6-4Brazil Vitoria Marchezini / Brazil Marcela Vita
Italy Sofia Cimatti / Italy Nicole Nobile
2023Venezuela Patricia Díaz
Brazil Rafaella Miller		Spain Ariadna Costa
Italy Elena Francesconi		6-1, 6-1Brazil Julia Nogueira / Brazil Marcela Vita
Italy Veronica Casadei / Italy Greta Giusti

ITF Beach Tennis World Team Championship

Event Gold Silver Bronze
2013  Brazil  Italy  Russia
2014  Italy  Brazil  Russia
2015  Italy  Russia  Spain
2016  Russia  Italy  France
2017  Italy  Brazil  Russia
2018  Brazil  Italy  Russia
2019  Brazil  Russia  Italy
2021  Brazil  Italy
2022  Italy  Brazil

Notes

  1. 1 2 Each year is linked to an article about that particular year's draw.
  2. 1 2 The dash means that the result or score is unknown because there are no available sources for this information.
     † indicates #1 ranking.

References

  1. ↑ ""ITF:A guide to Beach Tennis"". ITF. June 12, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  2. ↑ "FIT - Beach Tennis". Archived from the original on 9 September 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "Copia archiviata". Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 "ITF Partners with Beach Tennis USA". RSI Magazine. Racquet Sports Industry. June 17, 2010. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Start a racket in the sand". The Chicago Tribune. The Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "Contact". Beach Tennis Association U.S. Rankings & Tournaments. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
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