The MAPFRE Women's Tennis League will debut with a luxury roster of two Top-100s in the first tournament at the Club Tennis d’Aro (Girona), from July 15 to 19. The Swiss Jil Belén Teichmann (No. 63) and Sara Sorribes (No. 83) head a list of participants that also includes Aliona Bolsova (No. 102) and Lara Arruabarrena (No. 149).
Among those registered in the final table of 24 players are 5 others located in the Top-300: Cristina Bucsa (No. 176), Nuria Párrizas (No. 217), Eva Guerrero (No. 229), the Greek Despina Papamichail (No. 254) and Georgina García Pérez (No. 282). The high level of participation translates into the preliminary phase with the presence of some outstanding promises such as the Andorran Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva – junior champion of the Australian Open with just 14 years old and current world No. 1 -, the Gipuzkoan Ane Mintegi, the Paula Arias from Avila and the Marta Custic from Tenerife.
The MAPFRE Women's Tennis League will finally have 3 tournaments, after the cancellation of the test planned in Madrid due to the announcement of the return of the WTA world circuit next August 3. All of them endowed with € 24,000 in prizes. After the Club Tennis d’Aro tournament, the competition will move to the Castellón Tennis Club (July 22 to 26) and to the Club Tennis Els Gorchs de Les Franqueses del Vallès in Barcelona (July 29 to August 2). Teledeporte will offer live the two semifinals on Saturday and the final on Sunday of the three tournaments.
The MAPFRE Valor Tennis League trains in Cornellá
The MAPFRE Valor Tennis League for players from the Top-100 will raise the curtain at UP Pàdel & Tennis Cornellà-Bcn in Barcelona, the same week from July 15 to 19, with a poster that includes 7 participants among the top 200 in the world. Jaume A. Munar (No. 105) and Pedro Martínez (No. 106) will start as first favorites.
Of the international representation stand out the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (No. 138), the Italian Lorenzo Giustino (No. 153), the Canadian Steven Díez (No. 165). Joining them will be Carlos Taberner (No. 175), Mario Vilella (No. 188), Tommy Robredo (No. 214), Bernabé Zapata (No. 212) or Javier Barranco (No. 296). The preliminary phase that will complete the table of 24 players will feature two of the great promises of national tennis: Valencian Carlos Gimeno, Wimbledon junior finalist last year, or Burgos native Nicolás Álvarez Varona.
The MAPFRE Valor Tennis League will have 3 tournaments. After the inaugural event in Cornellá, the competition will move to Alicante with separate tournaments at JC Ferrero – Equelite Sport Academy de Villena (July 22-26) and the Ferrer de La Nucía Tennis Academy (August 29-2), all with € 12,400 in prizes.
Official return of tennis in Spain
Both competitions are part of the MAPFRE Tennis League, which also includes circuits for Top-100 players (team competition) and chair tennis. The objective of these 4 tours created by the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) is to facilitate the return of Spanish tennis players to international competition after the break by COVID-19. It will be the official return to the competition in our country since the tournaments of the MAPFRE Women's Tennis League and the MAPFRE Valor Tennis League will score for the national ranking.