15 years after the last international tennis competition, the 2009 Italy-USA Fed Cup world final, Reggio Calabria once again embraces racket professionals. The occasion is that of the finals of the Next Gen ATP Finals, which from 9 to 13 December will compete at Palacalafiore to win the title of best Under 20 in the world, already won in the past by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Acaraz. The event returns to Italy, for the first time in the South, after the five editions in Milan, from 2017 to 2022. The event, announced in recent weeks in New York in the USA, was presented yesterday at Palazzo Alvaro by the president of the Italian tennis and padel federation Angelo Binaghi, together with the minister for Sport and youth, Andrea Abodi, the president of Sport and Health Marco Mezzaroma, the mayor Francesco Cannizzaro and Roberto Occhiuto president of the Calabria Region and Diego Nepi Molineris, CEO of Sport and Health.
This year, defending the blue colors at the Next Gen ATP Finals will be Federico Cinà, a Sicilian tennis player currently in fourth place in the “race” for qualifying for the finals, and among the best blue prospects.
At Palazzo Alvaro, yesterday morning, the reception hall welcomed the leaders of the regional, city and metropolitan institutions, the sports ones, and many representatives of the Calabrian tennis clubs. The Next Gen ATP Finals will have the “Rocco Polimeni” Tennis Club as a logistical support structure, a sports association that is a point of reference for its history of national and international events. A delegation of young tennis players and coaches accompanied by president Ezio Privitera was present at yesterday’s presentation.
Calabrian sport and the institutions did not miss their presence, from the current president of Coni Calabria, Tino Scopelliti, Fitp Calabria with Andrea Massimilla, with the members of the regional committee, the federal councilor Fitp Joe Lappano, the provincial delegate Fitp Reggio Calabria, Marcello Fonga. «Reggio Calabria – said the President of the Region, Roberto Occhiuto – has a great tennis tradition and has one of the largest sports halls in the South, it would be a shame not to use these specific features to make it known through major world sporting events. The city can become an important location for developing sporting initiatives of this kind. We are working on other initiatives like these – he added – which always concern tennis which, according to the figures, is the sport that has a greater impact, in terms of economic consequences, compared to other disciplines”.
As the host, Mayor Cannizzaro wanted to thank «the Minister of Sport, Andrea Abodi, because if we are here it is thanks to him and to the president of the Calabria Region, Roberto Occhiuto, who together with Federtennis and “Sport e Salute” have contributed in various capacities so that this event could be presented today which clearly makes the city of Reggio and I add all of Calabria proud».
Mayor Francesco Cannizzaro then concluded: «The sports facilities are there and we will have them ready, we are proud to be able to host this event which effectively presents the city to make itself known to the world. Reggio is a beautiful city, which has extraordinary potential which in my opinion is under-appreciated.”