La Grande Sfida
La Grande Sfida is a women's exhibition tennis tournament held at the Mediolanum Forum and hosted by the Boscolo Hotel in Milan (for the first two editions).[1] The first edition was held on 3 December, 2011. The second edition was held on 1 December, 2012. The third edition was held on 17 in Genoa and 18 October in Milan, 2014. The fourth edition will be held on 20 in Verona and 22 November in Modena, 2015.
2011 La Grande Sfida
[edit]The inaugural event this year featured the Williams sisters as well as 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and 2011 US Open quarter-finalist Flavia Pennetta.
Players
[edit]| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 ITA |
Francesca Schiavone | Flavia Pennetta | 3 |
 USA |
Venus Williams | Serena Williams | 2 |
Matches
[edit]| 3 December 2011 15:30 (CET) |
Italy
|
3–2 | United States
|
Mediolanum Forum, Milan Attendance: 11,000 |
| Report | Individual matches | |||
| Flavia Pennetta | 1–2 | Serena Williams | [8–6], [3–7], [3–7] | |
| Francesca Schiavone | 2–0 | Venus Williams | [7–5], [7–3] | |
| Flavia Pennetta / Francesca Schiavone | 1–2 | Serena Williams / Venus Williams | [7–3], [6–8], [6–8] | |
| Flavia Pennetta | 2–0 | Venus Williams | [8–6], [7–2] | |
| Francesca Schiavone | 2–1 | Serena Williams | [7–3], [8–10], [8–6] | |
2012 La Grande Sfida
[edit]The 2012 edition was held on December 1, 2012, in Milan, Italy. This year's players featured French Open finalists Sara Errani and Maria Sharapova as well as US Open quarter-finalists Roberta Vinci and Ana Ivanovic.
The first match, between Ana Ivanovic and Roberta Vinci, was a repeat of their second round match from the Rogers Cup earlier in the year in which Vinci won 6–0, 6–0. However, this time Ivanovic would gain her revenge, winning in a 12-point tiebreak.
The second match, between Maria Sharapova and Sara Errani, was a repeat of their French Open final in which Sharapova won to complete a Career Grand Slam. Sharapova was once again victorious, by a scoreline of 6–2.
The Italians would then gain their revenge over Ivanovic and Sharapova by scoring a 6–4 victory in the doubles rubber.
Players
[edit]| Player 1 | Player 2 | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Sara Errani |
Roberta Vinci |
1 |
 Ana Ivanovic |
 Maria Sharapova |
2 |
Matches
[edit]| 1 December 2012 16:00 (CET) |
Report | Italy
|
1–2 | Russia and Serbia
|
Mediolanum Forum, Milan Attendance: 12,000 |
| Score by game: | |||||
| Roberta Vinci | 6–7(5–7) | Ana Ivanovic | |||
| Sara Errani | 2–6 | Maria Sharapova | |||
| Sara Errani / Roberta Vinci | 6–4 | Ana Ivanovic / Maria Sharapova | |||
2014 La Grande Sfida
[edit]The 2014 edition was held on 17 October 2014 in Genoa and on 18 October 2014 in Milan, Italy. The event featured four legends of the ATP Champions Tour: the 8-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl, Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević, French Open champion Michael Chang and 7-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe.[2]
The semifinals were held in Genoa,[3] while the final and the 3rd place final were played the day after in Milan.[4]
Players
[edit]| Player 1 | Result | Player 2 | Result | Player 3 | Result | Player 4 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Goran Ivanišević
|
Champion | Ivan Lendl
|
Runner-up | John McEnroe
|
3rd Place | Michael Chang
|
4th Place |
Draw
[edit]| Semifinals (Genoa) | Final (Milan) | ||||||||||||
| John McEnroe
| 2 | 63 | |||||||||||
| Goran Ivanišević
| 6 | 77 | |||||||||||
| Goran Ivanišević
| 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Ivan Lendl
| 4 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Michael Chang
| 4 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Ivan Lendl
| 6 | 6 | 3rd/4th place Play-off | ||||||||||
| John McEnroe
| 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Michael Chang
| 3 | 3 | |||||||||||
2015 La Grande Sfida
[edit]The 2015 edition was held on 20 November 2015 in Verona and 22 November 2015 in Modena, Italy. The event featured 4 legends of the ATP Champions Tour: the 7-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander, French Open champion Sergi Bruguera, French Open finalist Henri Leconte and 7-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe.[5][6]
Players
[edit]| Player 1 | Result | Player 2 | Result | Player 3 | Result | Player 4 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John McEnroe
|
Champion |  Sergi Bruguera
|
Runner-up |  Mats Wilander
|
3rd Place |  Henri Leconte
|
4th Place |
Draw
[edit]| Semifinals (Verona) | Final (Modena) | ||||||||||||
| Henri Leconte
| 3 | 62 | |||||||||||
| Sergi Bruguera
| 6 | 77 | |||||||||||
| Sergi Bruguera
| 3 | 4 | |||||||||||
| John McEnroe
| 6 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Mats Wilander
| 2 | 4 | |||||||||||
| John McEnroe
| 6 | 6 | 3rd/4th Place play-off | ||||||||||
| Henri Leconte
| 5 | 6 | [5] | ||||||||||
| Mats Wilander
| 7 | 2 | [10] | ||||||||||
2016 La Grande Sfida
[edit]The 2016 edition was held from 19 to 20 November 2015 in Bari, Italy.[7] The event featured 4 legends of the ATP Champions Tour: the 7-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe, French Open finalist Henri Leconte, Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist and French Open champion Thomas Muster.[8]
Thomas Enqvist won the title by defeating John McEnroe 6–2, 7–6(7–5) in the final.[9]
Players
[edit]| Player 1 | Result | Player 2 | Result | Player 3 | Result | Player 4 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Enqvist
|
Champion | John McEnroe
|
Runner-up | Henri Leconte
|
3rd Place |  Thomas Muster
|
4th Place |
Draw
[edit]| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Thomas Enqvist
| 7 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Thomas Muster
| 5 | 4 | |||||||||||
| Thomas Enqvist
| 6 | 77 | |||||||||||
| John McEnroe
| 2 | 65 | |||||||||||
| John McEnroe
| 7 | 6 | |||||||||||
| Henri Leconte
| 5 | 1 | Third place match | ||||||||||
| Thomas Muster
| 5 | 6 | [9] | ||||||||||
| Henri Leconte
| 7 | 3 | [11] | ||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "La Grande Sfida". Boscolo Milano. Archived from the original on 15 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ "New event to visit two italian cities in October". ATP Champions Tour. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ "Ivanišević runs out of racquets, but still beats McEnroe". ATP Champions Tour. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ "Ivanišević, Chang talk coaching after Goran takes title". ATP Champions Tour. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- ^ "McEnroe visits Ferrari ahead of Wilander clash". Verona: ATP Champions Tour. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ "2015 Results/Schedule". ATP Champions Tour. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
- ^ "2016 Results/Schedule". ATP Champions Tour. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ "McEnroe headlines opening night in Bari". ATP Champions Tour. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ "Enqvist takes title in Bari". Bari: ATP Champions Tour. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2017.