The countdown has begun to one of the most anticipated tennis events in Tuscany. From May 29 to June 7, the Open Tournament “City of Castelfiorentino” – 2nd Vieri Angelucci Memorial will be held in Castelfiorentino, in memory of the Castelfiorentino master who died prematurely two years ago, during which there will be the opportunity to watch live (free admission) the matches played by some of the strongest tennis players at regional and national level. Ten days of “stellar” tennis, then, with a rich prize pool of 5,000 euros, which the Polisportiva I’Giglio (promoter of the tournament) has managed to put together thanks to the contribution of numerous businesses, from Castelfiorentino and Valdelsa.
The event, which is organized in cooperation with the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation (FITP), “Tennis on Tour,” and the patronage of the municipality, will be accompanied by numerous events, musical and gastronomic. During the tournament, three evenings of Padel – always open to all – will also be held in the name of pure fun.
The 2nd Vieri Angelucci Memorial is considered by experts and fans to be the second most important men’s tournament in Tuscany, right after the pre-qualification of the Match Ball Florence International BNL d’Italia, a tournament that puts a place at the Foro Italico up for grabs. Already in the first edition of the Memorial, as recalled by the tournament director, Alessio Laganà (who also holds the role of Head of “Tennis on tour”) the stands recorded a large attendance every night and more than 350 spectators for the final, won by surprise by Pietro Cortecci against the favorite Niccolò Baroni.
Regardless of the program and the really high level of the event, the Polisportiva I’Giglio and the City of Castelfiorentino wanted to remember once again Vieri Angelucci, who gave so much to the city’s sports community.
“With affection and deep gratitude,” observes Polisportiva I’Giglio president Silvano Comanducci, “I think back to the years when you gave yourself with passion and dedication to our tennis community. You were not only a tennis teacher, but a true reference point, a patient and competent educator who knew how to transmit values, enthusiasm and love for this sport. You trained generations of kids, teaching them not only to hit a ball, but to believe in themselves, to face challenges with determination and to live the court as a gymnasium of life.”
“We are honored to be able to once again sponsor the Memorial that celebrates an excellent athlete and, above all, a person of high moral values,” says Deputy Mayor with proxy for Sports, Fabio Tinti. “Vieri I got to know years ago and I immediately appreciated his human qualities and his great competence in sports, qualities recognized by all those with whom he had to deal during his career as a player and as a tennis teacher. All this was reflected in the large participation in the past edition of the “Vieri Angelucci Memorial,” a clear sign of the beautiful memory he left behind both on a sporting and social level. Thanks to the family and Polisportiva I’Giglio, which together carry on day after day the sports and human values so dear to Vieri.”
“For the first time I find myself in a new role,” remarked the Mayor, Francesca Giannì, “writing a few words for dear Vieri. I had met him several years ago, upon his arrival in Castelfiorentino, as a young member of the tennis sector. With me he did not have much luck, since my interpersonal skills far exceeded my athletic ones, but with the whole sector, instead, he was able to consolidate a Castellana sports reality of great value, both on the sporting and social levels. A person who had chosen Castelfiorentino, who had chosen to be committed to the Community, who had chosen to live here with his family, to whom goes my warmest embrace. Indeed, when we celebrate memorials, we must never forget the other side of mourning, the individual side. It is a great responsibility for us to take up the willingness of Vieri’s family, which shares such grief with us and thus seeks to move out of the individual and into the collective: to overcome grief by perpetuating a moral legacy.”
