Italy and Spain claim Potter Cup titles

The International Lawn Tennis Club of Spain just fell short of an historic double win at the 45^th edition of the Potter Cup last week, which incorporated a ladies’ competition for the first time. Spain’s triumph at the maiden women’s event was almost a precursor to a unique double win, but IC Italy dominated the men’s final, rolling to a 4-1 win at the Real Club de Polo Barcelona.

The home team’s sole point was scored by Jordi Burillo, who beat Antonio Altobelli 6-3 7-5. The Italians then racked up consecutive wins as David Scala recovered to beat José Mª Arenas 2-6 6-2 6-4, Enrico Casadei edged David Valeriano 7-6(5) 6-4, Massimiliano Pace outlasted Carlos Costa 6-4 3-6 6-3 and Giovanni Lelli Mami beat Santi Tintoré 6-2 6-0.  

In the semi-finals, Spain beat the defending champions and top seeds IC USA 4-1. On the other side of the draw, the Italians beat IC Great Britain by the same score, with the Brits going on to take third place, beating the USA 4-1 in the consolation final.

IC France finished in fifth position, beating Spain’s ‘B’ team 5-0, while seventh and eighth place were taken by Belgium and Ireland respectively, after Belgium won their match 5-0.

The first edition of the ladies’ Potter Cup was played in a round-robin format between four teams, with the final day of the competition seeing Spain crowned as champions after a 2-1 win over Italy.

The tie delighted local spectators and went to the wire before decided by a final doubles match. In the singles, Eva Bes beat Valeria Madaro 6-4 6-3 to give the hosts the lead before Emanuela Falleti showed no mercy in levelling for Italy with a 6-0 6-0 win over Paulina Rodriguez. The decisive doubles match then saw Bes and Paula Cabezas score a convincing 6-1 6-1 win over Falleti and Flora Perfetti.

Earlier matches had seen Spain outlast the USA (who went on to finish in third position) 2-1, and Great Britain 2-0.

Alongside the competition, participants also had the opportunity to take part in a full social program, and participated in the now traditional on-court clinic with special players from Acell Foundation.

The Potter Cup – also known as the “XXIV Campionat de Catalunya de Veterans - XV Gran Premi Generalitat de Catalunya” was supported by the Spanish Tennis Federation, the Catalan Tennis Federation, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, the Catalan Sports Council, the RCT Barcelona-1899 and the Real Club de Polo.