In the Sala Trasparenza, Regione Liguria, in Genoa, the presentation of the Challenger ATP 125 tournament, scheduled from 26 March to 2 April, and the special initiatives dedicated to enthusiasts and schools.
The SANREMO TENNIS CUP was presented today, the Challenger 125 men’s singles and doubles tournament which is part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour 2023, the professional racket circuit par excellence at world level, which will be held for the first time in Sanremo , at the Tennis Sanremo, from 26 March to 2 April.
After a 2022 edition with an ATP Challenger, category 80, won by the very young Danish Holger Rune, current n. 8 in the world ranking, the event, organized by Master Group Sport in collaboration with Tennis Sanremo, supported by the Liguria Region and the Municipality of Sanremo, represents a great driving force for the area and will attract tennis players from all over the world, giving life to a competition of the highest technical level.
The tournament was presented to the press in the Transparency Room by the Liguria Region Sport Councilor, Simona Ferro, the General Manager of Master Group Sport, Antonio Santa Maria, the President of Tennis Sanremo Riccardo Civarolo, the President of the Tennis and Padel Liguria Federation Andrea Ditches.
During the conference, the Tournament Director Alessandro Motti communicated the important names of the entry list, cutoff 165: at the moment there are six Italian players admitted to the main draw by classification and Marco Cecchinato, No. 91 in the world ranking, is leading. Together with him, the young Next Gen Francesco Passaro, Giulio Zeppieri,
Luca Nardi, Flavio Cobolli and the home champion Matteo Arnaldi who, in the last year, has climbed more than 200 positions.
Among the members also Aslan Karatsev, currently No. 105, but with a best ranking of No. 14 in the world and who, in 2021, was part of the Russian teams that won the Davis Cup ATP Cup 2021.
Also present were the two promising French tennis players Luca Van Assche who, precisely in 2023, made his debut in the main draw of a slam at the Australian Open 2023 thanks to a wild card, and Arthur Fils who inaugurated 2023 with his first title career at the Oeiras Challenger.
The Sanremo Tennis Cup will be placed on the calendar as a prologue to Montecarlo, one of the most important international sporting events. The singles draw will consist of 32 players and the doubles draw will consist of 16 pairs. The Sanremo Tennis Cup joins the AON CHALLENGER Tournament in Genoa and offers tennis enthusiasts from Liguria and beyond a new level competition on the Italian sports scene.
Simona Ferro, Councilor for Sport of the Liguria Region, declared: «As Councilor for Sport, I am proud that the Sanremo Tennis Cup becomes a Challenger 125 tournament. The growth, year after year, of the sporting events supported by the Liguria Region is a source of pride and gratifies the work done daily. I am convinced that in the beautiful Sanremo setting we will have a high-level competition that will act as a driving force not only for the Ligurian tennis movement, but also for tourism in the area”.
Master Group Sport, a sports and events marketing company, will organize the Sanremo Tennis Cup after organizing, in 2022, the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup, ATP Challenger 125, which will also be repeated in 2023.
Antonio Santa Maria illustrated the choice of Sanremo as follows: «Master Group Sport has undertaken a new challenge in the world of Italian and international tennis by organizing our first ATP Challenger 125 in Parma last year. The choice of Sanremo is part of this strategy, we had this opportunity and we seized it, also thanks to Tennis Sanremo. Master Group Sport has decided to further develop its presence in tennis with an international event on an attractive date in view of the great Montecarlo event. The Sanremo event feeds the offer of high-level tennis, I can say that we have one of the best cut-offs of the 125 in Italy».
Riccardo Civarolo, President of Tennis Sanremo said: «I thank all those present, the institutions and Master Group Sport for their continuous support. Our club is owned by the Liguria Region and, for this reason, we have the opportunity to develop numerous initiatives with the Region in a municipality, that of Sanremo, with a great history and an important tradition. It is one of the places that best lends itself to the game of tennis and, it is no coincidence that the great academies and great players are in western Liguria».
Andrea Fossati, President of FITP Liguria, underlined the strategic importance of the Challengers on the Italian territory: «The importance of the Challengers is fundamental for the growth of young tennis players at national and local level, in a region, that of Liguria, with the highest number of members. Thanks to the huge number of tournaments, first futures and then challengers, our young talents have been able to stay in the area to play numerous tournaments and not, as happened in the past, move continuously. This has favored the growth of the athletes and also of their coaches: it has been one of the highly successful elements of Italian tennis in recent years. In this, Genoa, with a very high-level challenger, and today Sanremo represent a fundamental reality, a flagship for Ligurian and national sport”.
The media visibility of the event will also be important: it will be streamed on Challenger TV for the entire duration of the tournament, while on Saturday and Sunday it will also be broadcast on Supertennis TV and Sky Sport.
Furthermore, two special initiatives linked to the territory were presented: a promotion dedicated to all FITP members and the involvement of local schools with the GAME TEST MATCH educational project, in which a special educational lesson will be offered on the Sanremo Tennis courts. The reality of tennis and an international Challenger will make it possible to approach everyday school subjects, such as mathematics, English and technology, in a new and original way. It was presented by two exceptional testimonials, Vittoria Oliveri and Carola Pessina, the two young Ligurian tennis players who had shown their passion and desire to play tennis during the pandemic with a unique solution: playing on the roofs of each other’s homes. A unique experience that everyone talked about and that had led her to meet her favorite Roger Federer, putting him to the test with the racket right on the roofs of Finale Ligure.
THE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Sanremo Tennis Cup – ATP 125 1st round 27/03 starting at 11:00 €5.00
Sanremo Tennis Cup – ATP 125 1st round 28/03 starting at 11:00 €5.00
Sanremo Tennis Cup – ATP 125 Round of 16 29/03 starting at 11:00 €5.00
Sanremo Tennis Cup – ATP 125 Round of 16 30/03 starting at 11:00 €5.00
Sanremo Tennis Cup – ATP 125 Singles quarterfinals and doubles semifinals 31/03 starting at 11:00 €10.00
Sanremo Tennis Cup – ATP 125 Singles Semifinals and Doubles Final 01/04 starting at 12:30 €10.00
Sanremo Tennis Cup – ATP 125 Singles final 02/04 from 3.00 pm €15.00
Sanremo Tennis Cup – Season ticket 31/03-01/04-02/04 from 31/03 to 02/04 €25.00
Tickets can be purchased at all points of sale in the Vivaticket circuit and on the Vivaticket.com website at