Victor Ionescu is the Tennis Clash eSports champion! Battling out in front of a lively crowd inside the Inalpi Arena Wednesday night, Ionescu overcame Matteo Dal Forno to win the Tennis Clash eSports crown and €6,000 in prize money.
The ‘Road To Turin’ began earlier this year, with 748,000 participants entering. After competing through three qualifying tournaments and five in-game tournaments, eight players qualified for finals day in Turin.
The round-robin and semi-finals stage of the mobile game occurred at the FITP eSports corner inside the Nitto ATP Finals Fan Village, with Ionescu and Dal Forno advancing to the final.
With the pressure on, Ionescu stepped up to win the title.
“When I saw my name on every screen inside the stadium it was very humbling, it was very crazy,” Ionescu said after his win. “I would never have anticipated this five years ago when I started playing this game. In order to qualify you have to win online and it was very competitive. There were many good players. Now I was here with the best players and it was crazy.”
[ATP APP]Giovanni Di Natale, head of Marketing and Digital Business at FITP (Italian Tennis and Padel Federation), is pleased with the success of the Nitto ATP Finals eSeries.
"We believe that the eSports movement aligns with and supports our values, as well as the practice and vision of our players,” Di Natale said. “Currently, the eSportsFITP platform has over one million members, and we are committed to enhancing this initiative. While eSports is increasingly becoming a part of everyday life for young people, not all of them have access to traditional on-court tennis. To address this, we are striving to establish a balanced approach that promotes both virtual and on-court experiences.
“This initiative allows young enthusiasts of eSports to participate in events where they can play Tennis Clash and potentially be inspired to try tennis on court.”
All Nitto ATP Finals eSeries matches took place on a “virtual” court that replicates the Inalpi Arena and was created specifically for the event by WildLife Studios, the publisher of the Tennis Clash game and FITP's partner in the development of the project. There was a total prize pot of €10,000.
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