June 2017
IC of Italy and IC of Spain triumph at The Potter Cup 2017
The IC of Spain just fell short of an historic double win at the 45th edition of the Potter Cup last week, which incorporated a ladies’ competition for the first time. Spain’s triumph at the maiden women’s event was almost a precursor to a unique double win, but IC Italy dominated the men’s final, rolling to a 4-1 win at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona.
The home team’s sole point was scored by Jordi Burillo, who beat Antonio Altobelli 6-3 7-5. The Italians then racked up consecutive wins as David Scala recovered to beat José Mª Arenas 2-6 6-2 6-4, Enrico Casadei edged David Valeriano 7-6(5) 6-4, Massimiliano Pace outlasted Carlos Costa 6-4 3-6 6-3 and Giovanni Lelli Mami beat Santi Tintoré 6-2 6-0.
In the semi-finals, Spain beat the defending champions and top seeds IC USA 4-1. On the other side of the draw, the Italians beat IC of GB by the same score, with the Brits going on to take third place, beating the USA 4-1 in the consolation final.
IC France finished in fifth position, beating Spain’s ‘B’ team 5-0, while seventh and eighth place were taken by Belgium and Ireland respectively, after Belgium won their match 5-0.
The first edition of the ladies’ Potter Cup was played in a round-robin format between four teams, with the final day of the competition seeing Spain crowned as champions after a 2-1 win over Italy.
The tie delighted local spectators and went to the wire before decided by a final doubles match. In the singles, Eva Bes beat Valeria Madaro 6-4 6-3 to give the hosts the lead before Emanuela Falleti showed no mercy in levelling for Italy with a 6-0 6-0 win over Paulina Rodriguez. The decisive doubles match then saw Bes and Paula Cabezas score a convincing 6-1 6-1 win over Falleti and Flora Perfetti.
Earlier matches had seen Spain outlast the USA (who went on to finish in third position) 2-1, and Great Britain 2-0.
Alongside the competition, participants also had the opportunity to take part in a full social program, and participated in the now traditional on-court clinic with special players from Acell Foundation.
The Potter Cup – also known as the “XXIV Campionat de Catalunya de Veterans - XV Gran Premi Generalitat de Catalunya” was supported by the Spanish Tennis Federation, the Catalan Tennis Federation, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, the Catalan Sports Council, the RCT Barcelona-1899 and the Real Club de Polo.
Berta Tintore, Potters Cup
LXIII Gran Premi Generalitat de Catalunya and LXIII Campionat Internacional de Catalunya de Veterans, Barcelona, Spain
After the 2016 Ladies Potter Cup invitational exhibition event, 2017 will be the year of the inaugural Ladies Potter Cup
Format – 5 singles and 2 doubles for over 45s
Equipos
Ordre de Joc Divendres
Quadre 2017