THE PARMA LADIES OPEN RETURNS WITH THE FOURTH EDITION
COCCIARETTO, BRONZETTI AND TREVISAN: ITALIAN STARS TRIS IN THE MAIN DRAW
SPORT COUNCILOR BOSI: “HIGH QUALITY TOURNAMENT”
Parma, April 16, 2024 – After the iirst WTA trophy of the young Coco Gauff, the exploits of Serena Williams and Maria Sakkari, the Parma Ladies Open returns for its fourth edition. There are a total of 32 titles on the women’s circuit (including a Slam) that the participating players at the event presented by title sponsor Iren have won during their careers, testifying to the incredible level of quality of the 2024 Emilian event. From Monday 13th to Saturday May 18th, the WTA 125 organized by MEF Tennis Events in collaboration with the Parma Tennis Club will reopen its doors, and on the red clay courts of the Emilian club the level will be very high also thanks to the change of date, which will see the event take place in parallel with the second week of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The entry list for the event with a prize money of $115,000, still subject to changes in the days preceding the start, is full of tennis players from the Top 100 and will also see Lucia Bronzetti, Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Martina Trevisan taking part. The presentation press conference is scheduled for Thursday 2 May at 10.30 am in the Representative Hall of the Municipal Residence in Strada Repubblica, 1 Parma, in the presence of the mayor Michele Guerra, the councilor Marco Bosi, as well as the representatives of the Emilia Region -Romagna, FITP Emilia-Romagna, CONI, TC Parma and MEF Tennis Events.
The stars of the Italian national team in Parma – The entry list for the fourth edition of the Parma Ladies Open presented by Iren has an exceptional technical level and competitiveness. The respective WTA numbers 35 and 42, Marie Bouzkova and Xinyu Wang, will be the top two seeds in a tournament that will see some of the best players in the world rankings compete. A Slam champion and former world number 4 will also be present with them: the American Sofia Kenin, winner of the 2020 edition of the Australian Open and finalist of Roland Garros in the same year, will further enrich the technical level on the TC Parma courts. Completing the Top 3 of those registered is Lucia Bronzetti; the current number 46 in the world rankings will be looking for a great result in Emilia, but she will not be the only Italian tennis player to fight for the title. Italy will be well represented by two other symbolic players of the ride that last year saw the women’s national team reach the final act of the Billie Jean King Cup: Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Martina Trevisan. While Trevisan is still hunting for the first big successes of the season, Cocciaretto comes from the victory of the WTA 125 in Charleston last March, where she defeated the promising Diana Shnaider 6-3 6-2. However, the competition could be enriched by at least one more Italian tennis player, with Sara Errani just two slots away from rightfully entering the main draw. Rounding out a list of numerous champions, awaiting the usual wild cards, there will also be the tournament champion in 2022, the Egyptian born in 1996 Mayar Sherif, as well as the former number 14 in the world ranking Petra Martic.
The authorities welcome the tournament – “It will be the fourth edition of the Parma Ladies Open, a tournament that is becoming a fixed event for the city which in recent years has seen sacred monsters such as Serena Williams on the court, but also young promises who are consecrating themselves as Coco Gauff – the words of the Sports Councilor of the Municipality of Parma, Marco Bosi –. Women’s tennis is always particularly popular with the people of Parma. This year the anticipation is very high because it will be played in the middle of the clay season and there will be a high-level entry list. This is because the players themselves love Parma and the splendid club that hosts them, a true context of excellence”. The setting of the fourth edition of the tournament will once again be that of the Parma Tennis Club, represented by its president Giampiero Alinovi: “In recent years the Parma Ladies Open has had incredible success. Born during the pandemic, it has become a fixed and hopefully increasingly long-lasting event for the club, the city and the entire region. We are very excited. We are particularly pleased that this year it will be played in the second week of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia: probably, once eliminated in Rome, some great players from the WTA circuit will choose Parma to continue their activity in view of Roland Garros. I am extremely confident: between Italian and foreign athletes we are ready to witness a great show.”
The support of the Emilia-Romagna Region – “This year too we support the Parma Ladies Open, a tournament that will see some of the best tennis players on the world scene compete on the red clay of the Parma Tennis Club – the words of Giammaria Manghi, Head of the Political Secretariat of the Presidency of the Emilia-Romagna Region -. In the calendar of major sporting events promoted by the Region, tennis occupies a prominent place, with several important events, which will culminate in the Davis Cup round, scheduled again this year in September, at the Unipol Arena in Casalecchio di Reno. Parma Ladies Open gives space to women’s sport, to which, in the logic of valorising gender sport, we are trying to pay adequate attention, both in the proposal of events and in the programming documents, such as for example the Three-Year Sport Plan, under discussion precisely in these days in our Legislative Assembly”.
The ticket office will be open from Thursday 18 April at 4.00 pm on the website www.parmaladiesopen.com, while accreditation requests must be sent to credentials@meftennisevents.com.