CESENATICO/STARNBERG, January 31, 2026
Cesenatico is reopening its doors to top-level tennis with the official launch of the Start Romagna Cup – 1st Città di Cesenatico Trophy, a new ATP Challenger 50 event offering €56,700 in prize money. The tournament will run until Sunday, February 8 on the indoor hard courts of the Circolo Tennis “Godio,” a venue that in the past hosted junior Winter Cup matches featuring a young Roger Federer as well as several ITF events.
Play begins on Sunday with the opening 12 matches of the qualifying draw, before the decisive round on Monday ahead of the main draw. The first Challenger event of 2026 on Italian soil comes the week after the Australian Open and marks the debut of Brazilian Carlos Bernardes — one of the tour’s most respected former chair umpires — as tournament director.
Twelve Italian players are already in the main draw, where the leading contenders include Estonian Davis Cup player Daniil Glinka (No. 200), who won the Drummondville Challenger at the end of 2025 and is contesting the final of the Oeiras Challenger this weekend, and Switzerland’s Remy Bertola (No. 255), a semifinalist this week in Quimper. Both have been drawn against qualifiers in the first round.
Also aiming for a deep run are France’s Calvin Hemery (No. 260), the third seed, who will face Italy’s Raul Brancaccio, and Russia’s Ivan Gakhov (No. 261), the fourth seed, who meets Federico Arnaboldi. One of the most anticipated first-round matches is an all-Italian derby between local wild card Francesco Forti and 2007-born Pierluigi Basile. Other Italian wildcards include Filippo Romano, who will play Spain’s Alex Martinez.
Several young Italian prospects are also in action, including Carlo Alberto Caniato, Federico Bondioli, Stefano Napolitano, Pietro Fellin, Gianmarco Ferrari, Giovanni Fonio, and Andrea Guerrieri, all facing tough opening-round assignments against seeded or experienced international opponents.
Qualifying begins on Sunday with a strong home presence: 17 of the 24 players in the draw are Italian, including a number from the Romagna region. The opening round features several all-Italian clashes, as well as challenging tests against seeded foreign players for some of the country’s most promising youngsters.
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