The president of the tennis club Fabio Fois is satisfied. “Challenging organization, but everything went perfectly”
ALGHERO. The captain of the blue Tathiana Garbin also admitted: «Alghero is the top». The president of the Catalan tennis club Fabio Fois takes stock of the Billie King Jean Cup 2022, the highest world women’s team tennis competition hosted last weekend for the first time in Alghero. “We have done well for Italy,” says Fois enthusiastically. Under a (hot) April sun, the blues beat a tough nut to crack like France, the winning nation of the 2019 edition and seeded number two of the tournament. For them direct access to the Finals, in November, in a location yet to be defined.
«An unexpected victory, for this reason even more beautiful. France, at least on paper, was more experienced and stronger – continues Fois -. It was a wonderful show, the first post-pandemic international event with the public in the stands, and what an audience. It was a thrill to find ourselves all together screaming and cheering after a long time ».
At the litmus test Alghero has done its homework. With professionalism and fairness. «The organization was demanding but with the support of Federtennis everything went perfectly – explains Fois -. And the enthusiasm of the people gave it the right boost. The audience replied: on the stands there were two thousand spectators on the first day, another two thousand on the second. It was a surprise for us too, we didn’t think there was all this hunger for sport. We must be proud of how Alghero responded, the whole city breathed in sport. And all this was possible thanks to the support of the Federation and the support of the Region and the municipality of Alghero ».
Fois is a stubborn type. “When Binaghi called me a few months ago to tell me that he had bet on Alghero for the BJK Cup because ours are fields where the ball runs fast, ideal for the qualities of the blues and for beating a tough opponent like France, I didn’t thought about not even a moment. “It’s great,” I replied, even though I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We immediately set to work to understand how to host an event of international importance such as the BJK Cup. Fortunately, the funds of the fields were in place thanks to the works financed by the members of our club. It was necessary to install the stands around the central court to accommodate 2533 people, the maximum capacity allowed, organize the logistics, the buffets … we did it. Tathiana Garbin, Camila Giorgi, Jasmine Paolini, Lucia Bronzetti, Martina Trevisan and Elisabetta Cocciaretto complimented us for the organization and the beauty of the city, they told me that they would very gladly return to Alghero. We await them with open arms ».