The young scholars of the Intesa Sanpaolo Assicurazioni Little Tennis Champions program concluded the first stages of the second part of the 2025 international programming with an important trip to the ITF U18 J500 tournaments in Cairo, Egypt, and J300 in Casablanca, Morocco, played in the last two weeks of February.
Among the most significant results was that of Matteo Gribaldo, the reigning Italian under-16 champion, who was able to pass the qualifiers in both tournaments and push through to the quarterfinals in doubles in Casablanca. In the singles tournament in Egypt, despite being eliminated in the first round, he took the number 82 ITF junior ranking to the third set, showing character and the ability to compete at a high level.
Mattia Cappellari reached the first round in the main draw in Cairo with great tenacity, while in Casablanca he withdrew in the second round of qualifying due to physical problems.
Carlo Paci, 2009 born and the youngest of the group, took part only in the Moroccan stage, stopping in the second round of the qualifiers after taking a world 200 two years older than him to the third set and showing important improvements in his game and attitude.
These opportunities represent a key piece in the technical and mental growth of the scholarship holders, who were able to measure themselves against the world’s best juniors in ITF tournaments gaining valuable experience for their own path and great confidence.
The financial effort made by the I Tennis Foundation to add these events to the program thus proved to be an important choice to accelerate the growth process of the boys, who despite being two years younger than the average participant, showed that they can compete in high-level contexts.
For the Little Tennis Champions, the international journey will continue in March with two ITF J100 and J60 tournaments in Antalya, Turkey.