MILAN, June 22, 2015
Founded in 2006, the 10th edition of the Aspria Tennis Cup is taking place this week. The € 42,500 ATP Challenger clay court event is held at the Harbour Club in Milan, one of the most prestigious country clubs in Italy. It is located in the northwest quadrant of Milan, a few steps away from the country’s largest football stadium San Siro, home of Internazionale Milano and AC Milano.
Centre Court Harbour Club Milan (photo: Aspria Tennis Cup Milano)
The Harbour club has sixteen tennis courts with three different surfaces, a golf course for training, a well-equipped gym, two Olympic swimming pools (indoor and outdoor), two football pitches, a restaurant, a spa and a clubhouse. Centre Court has two temporary stands with a seating capacity of 1,000 places. The admission is free for the entire duration of the tournament.
Players stay in the official hotel B&B Hotel Milano San Siro, just four kilometres from the Harbour. Albert Ramos claimed last year’s title winning the final in straight sets against Pere Riba.
Albert Ramos defeated Pere Riba last year in Milan’s final (photo: Aspria Tennis Cup Milano)
This year’s top-seed is world number 67 Benoit Paire, who returns to the clay after playing two grass court events in s’Hertogenbosch (lost in first round to Marco Chiudinelli) and Halle (lost in first round qualifying to Tim Puetz), facing José Checa-Calvo in Milan’s opening round. The 30-year-old Spaniard, who entered the main draw by protected ranking, returns to ATP Challenger Tour for the first time this season, after he had played 16 Future events, taking one title in Alcala de Henares in April. Both players will meet for the second time on the tour, with Paire winning the only previous meeting in Bordeaux in 2010.
The tournament’s second top 100-player is second favourite Federico Delbonis, who will take on Christian Garin for the first time. The world number 82 from Argentina has skipped the grass court season and is playing his first event since losing to fellow countryman Juan Mónaco in the first round at Roland Garros.
