The Melilla Tennis Federation is organizing this week the XIX International Men’s Tournament, sponsored by the Autonomous City of Melilla, in the category of $15,000, with the organization and financial support of the Territorial Federation led by Pablo Martínez and the Royal Spanish Federation of Tennis (RFET). ). The tournament will be held in the tennis courts of the Álvarez Claro Municipal Stadium until Sunday, September 22, with matches throughout the day in sunlight. The doubles final is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, while the singles final will be played on Sunday morning.
Thanks to the financial support of the Autonomous City games, entry to watch the games will be free. However, due to security and player protection rules of the International Tennis Federation (ITF), access to the venue will be restricted.
The tournament consists of singles and doubles tournaments, with 32 players and 16 doubles teams respectively, in addition to the preliminary round of the same event with up to 48 players, of which eight will be qualified to participate.
The event can be considered to have started last Saturday with the arrival of the players and the filming of the first episode, which took place between Sunday and Monday.
The big splash left 19-year-old Matteo Lavizzari of Switzerland, ranked 1,337th in the world, the first runner-up in the qualifying round.
Although 463 players were initially registered, the previous stage was made up of 45 participants, representing different countries (Switzerland, Venezuela, Italy, Holland, France, India, Turkey, Austria, Morocco, Finland, Great Britain and Mexico ), and the most Spanish players, totaling 28.
The Melillense Federation shows that the international competition of the Tennis Tournament is “very high and impressive”, which players of the type Pablo Carreño Busta passed, who won the tournament in the 2009 edition and has been in the top ten. around the world, in addition to taking part last week in the elimination of the David Cup in Valencia which qualified Spain for the final next November, by beating France 2-1.
In this edition, in order to encourage and increase the participation of citizens and local athletes, various tennis tests will be held for local players in different categories (Youth, Ultimate and Veteran). In addition, Sunday will be a day of events and promotions for ‘Pickleball’, a new sport that RFET has integrated into its games, and where the first Spanish tournament will be held at the end of this September. In the center of Madrid, in the same Plaza de España with a montage that promises to be spectacular.
The game, very popular in the United States with millions of players, is gaining popularity in Europe.
All activities will be free, thanks to the support of the sports sector of the Autonomous City of Melilla, the promoter of sports in the city.
