The Progress Tour 2022
Last week, SotoTennis Academy hosted its fourth International Progress Tour here at base in Sotogrande, south of Spain. This year’s event kicked off with the first qualifying rounds on Saturday 22nd October, followed by 7 days of fierce competition in the glorious sunshine. This year’s tournament saw 121 matches played, not including our Doubles Event, which was officially Mixed Doubles for the first time!
It was brilliant to not only reunite with so many familiar faces who return to STA each year to train and compete with us, but also meet lots of new players and their guests, and give them a warm Team Soto welcome to our home.
The competitors’ gift bags were full of goodies, the poké and paella bowls were delicious, our Ball Crew rocked it, our photographers and videographers caught all the action, and our Instagram lives and commentary captured the energy.
This year’s STA Progress Tour saw some tough competition and high-level tennis throughout the tournament, culminating in some fantastic Semi-Final and Final battles on the last day of the event.
Congratulations must go to the following players for taking home the trophies at our 2022 tournament:
STA Progress Tour 2022 Winner – Alexis Klegou
STA Progress Tour 2022 Runner-Up – Filippo Mazzola
STA Progress Tour 2022 Female Bonus Winner – Elena Morales Dorantes
STA Progress Tour 2022 Female Bonus Runner-Up – Aryana Bartlett
Mixed Doubles
Every year during our UTR-powered Singles Tournament, we host a Doubles Evening which is open to players and guests of all abilities. This year we decided to make it Mixed Doubles for the first time! It was lovely to see our competitors partner up, mixing ages, tennis levels, Full Timers, Access Players, Parents and Coaches. A special shout out must go to our 2022 Mixed Doubles trophy winners:
STA Mixed Doubles 2022 Winners – Elena Karantali & Joel Gibson
STA Mixed Doubles 2022 Runners-Up – Arianna Bettinelli & Oliver Blomfield
We also enjoyed some amazing paella during the Doubles Event, courtesy of Nogara Asadora, who embraced the Team Soto energy!
Thank You
In order to make these special events happen, it takes a whole team of amazing people and organisations. There are too many people to name them all individually, but shout outs go to:
Barry Fulcher, the Founder of The Progress Tour and our Tournament Director, who has worked tirelessly to bring competition opportunities with both prize money and a level-based format which guarantees multiple matches for each player. This is the sort of initiative we love, as Barry’s intentions and concept are spot on.
Ollie Cores, our Tournament Referee, who makes sure our Progress Tour Events always go off without a hitch!
Our fantastic tournament sponsors and partners including:
Our competitors, for providing us with some amazing matches and showing great competitive spirit throughout the week.
Finally, our amazing STA Staff Team, who work incredibly hard both on court and behind the scenes to make these events so memorable for our players, parents and visitors. Without you, these weeks and experiences would not be possible! Thank you all for being the best team players and for your day in, day out dedication.
STA's Progress Tour 2023
Following the success of our Progress Tour events over the last four years, we are now ready to make our 2023 Tournament the biggest and best yet. We have already started to plan next year’s event, and are looking to partner up with like-minded individuals and businesses based both locally and internationally to make our competitors’ and their guests’ experience even better.
Interested in partnering up for STA’s 2023 International Progress Tour? Want to receive more information about our plans for next year’s exciting event? Know any individuals or businesses who would like to hear more about the many benefits of becoming a partner or sponsor of SotoTennis Academy? Please contact us via info@sototennis.com – we look forward to hearing from you!
