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Donne da medaglia

Never before these last few seasons, the excellence of Italian sport conjugates the feminine. Year after year it has been a shooting ahead in favour of women. If during the ‘50s female athletes were only 10% in the Italian national sports recently CONI has registered more women in sporting companies than men, not only in terms of number, but also in quality. It is now a fact that we must resort to the fair sex if we want to find a world leader in Italian sports, the 2013 has proved this, so far. Let’s take for example last summer world championship, considering the three main disciplines, athletics, swimming and fencing, the only Italian medal in Moscow was Valeria Straneo’s silver, she is 37 and was second in the marathon. The male team was a failure. In Barcelona, at The Swimming World Championships, the Italian atheletes, Martina Grimaldi, Federica Pellegrini, Tania Cagnotto, and Francesca Dallapè, won one gold medal and three silver medals while the only bronze for the male team was Gregory Paltrinieri’s in long distance swimming. Even in Budapest, during the World Fencing Championships, women outperformed men, two gold and two bronze medals were won by Arianna Errigo, Valentina Vezzali and their teammates while only a gold and a bronze medal was won by Andrea Baldini and his team. Another sport that from several seasons let Italians rejoice is women’s tennis. Men won the Davis Cup (the tennis World Team championship) only once in 1976, women, from 2006 up till now, won three titles and a fourth one might come at the Fed Cup final against Russia, in November in Cagliari.

Errani – Vinci
Two authentic champions, two Italian tennis players who have represented our country around the world and have climbed the top of the singles and especially doubles charts with their results, are the undisputed queens, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The first entirely Italian pair, to win the Grand Slam doubles tournaments. Two authentic Italian excellences in the world of tennis that made an exhibition of themselves last July in the final of the WTA tournament of the Country Time Club in Palermo, won by Roberta Vinci, 30, born in Taranto. Sara Errani, 26, born in Bologna, for two seasons she has been between the number 5 and 8 of the world chart and aims to equal, at least, the Milanese Francesca Schiavone who after the honors in Paris reached the fourth position in the world, as no one did before, not even the Italian tennis players Panatta and Barazzutti in their heyday. The story of Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci is a beautiful story of friendship. They called themselves “sisters” and in the circus of the courts are called “Cichi”. They share everything, emotions, joys and even some little pains when they lost, although rarely, in the doubles. Two humble women that with great effort, sacrifice and sweat left home and family as young girls and then gave to Italian tennis excellent results letting the national anthem echo and the Italian flag wave in team competitions. Their list of hits, especially the doubles, is remarkable; up to mid-2013 they have as a dowry, in addition to the undisputed leadership in the chart, 14 successful competitions, among which the one obtained at this year’s Australian Grand Slam in Melbourne, and those of 2012 at Roland Garros and at the U.S. Open, just to mention the most important. We should not forget the success at Foro Italico in Rome last year and their work up to the final in May 2013. In addition, Errani in 2012singles afforded to reach the final in Paris Grand Slam, and, this year, only stopped in the semifinals. For the twenty-six years old champion from Romagna there are 7 successful matches in singles, while for Roberta 9 , the last of which last July in Palermo against Sara in a final that has thrilled the audience of the Country Time Club. In addition, Sara and Roberta for years has contributed, like their teammates, to make the fortune of the Italian Fed Cup, now three times on the top of the world. At the beginning of 2013 Sara was awarded by the WTA (the association of professional tennis players) the prestigious prize “Most Improved Player 2012”, and together with Roberta “doubles team of the year” for the year 2012. Two awards that give Italy a major role in the intercontinental context. All Sicilian is the staff of Roberta Vinci, who is Palermo adoptive, and honorary member of the Country Time Club just like Sara. His coach is the former tennis player Francesco Cinà, while the athletic trainer is Piero Intile; Sara, instead, has the Spanish coach Pablo Lozano from the very beginning of her career. The Cichi have in common their image curator, Sara Errani’s brother, David. As said before the two champions, authentic Italian worldwide pride, always travel together, since their activity is more or less the same, and love to share the most relaxing moments of their days on the popular social network, facebook. Obviously they are always photographed together with their coaches and families, because of the great cohesion between their work teams which testifies their union. Hundreds of fans follow them and interact with them from all over the world. It goes without saying that, behind all these great results there is a lot of work. Sara and Roberta keep on thanking their staff who helped them achieve the “top” and let the other nations appreciate the pair Errani – Vinci together with sport press and the other tennis players who had to prostrate to their talent.

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