2017 Potter Cup Preview
The Potter Cup committee met this week in Barcelona to present the 45th edition of the competition, which is due to take place at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona from June 1 – 4. The International Club’s (IC) premier team event for senior players will once again feature seven teams, including IC Belgium, IC France, IC Great Britain, IC Italy, IC Ireland, IC Spain and IC USA.
For the first time in the history of the competition, the 2017 Potter Cup will also feature a ladies’ tournament, with four IC teams - IC Great Britain, IC USA, IC Italy and IC Spain set to take part in the inaugural edition.
The Potter Cup has traditionally been a men’s team competition for players aged 45 & Over, with many of the world’s leading senior tennis players taking part. This year is no exception and the host team looks to be particularly strong, featuring players such as Javier Sanchez-Vicario, a winner of 4 career ATP World Tour titles, former national junior champion David de Miguel, former professionals Jordi Burillo and Alex Lopez Moron.
Defending champions IC USA will send a five-man team to attempt to defend the title it won over IC Italy in last year’s final. The team will once again feature Mikael Pernfors, who was ranked in the world’s Top 10 in 1986, when he was runner-up at Roland Garros final and also played in the Davis Cup final.
Having contested the title match at the last two editions, the Americans are once again eager to play, with captain Jeff Cohen commenting, “We’ve made lifelong friends with players from around the world and are excited to defend the title, enjoy the competition, camaraderie and participate in such a well-run prestigious event!”
Other dangerous players include IC France’s prolific senior tennis champion Patrick Vergnes, and Italy’s former ITF World Individual Champion Enrico Cassadei.
Eva Bes will be the captain of the ladies IC Spain team. Bes, led the IC Spain team to victory in last year’s exhibition event. The women’s event will be held in a slightly different format, with the four teams competing in a round-robin tournament.
The tournament will also stage its now-traditional tennis clinic for players with intellectual disabilities from the ACELL Foundation, during which players from the various teams take part in the popular on-court session.
The Potter Cup is supported by the Catalan Tennis Federation, the Barcelona Town City Hall, the Consell Català de l’Esport, the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899 and the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona, who will host the event. The Secretary General de L'Esport, Mr. Gerard Figueras, was on hand to join the Committee at the launch of the competition.
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