The lineup is headed by another Swiss duo, the pairing of Anouk’s former partner Joana Mader, also a two-time Olympian and a Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, with rising 20-year-old star Leona Kernen. Kernen is a two-time European champion and a two-time World Championship medalist from various age-group competitions. Last year, she competed alongside Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Tanja Huberli until the return of the latter’s regular partner Nina Brunner from maternity leave. At their latest appearance on the Beach Pro Tour, Mader & Kernen finished fourth at the Ostrava Elite in Czechia some ten days ago.
In between the two Swiss pairs, USA’s Savannah Cory (Savvy) & Devon Newberry stand second on entry points. They return to the Beach Pro Tour after beating reigning world champions Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova in the Brasilia Elite bronze medal match last month.
Last year’s Alanya bronze medalists – French Olympians and 2025 European Championship silver medalists Clemence Vieira & Aline Chamereau – are also back for more, looking for their first podium in 2026.
The very reigning European champion Tetiana Lazarenko of Ukraine, 22 years old, will also compete in Turkiye along with her current 20-year-old partner Sofiia Kurnikova. The two arrive from neighboring Bulgaria, where they conquered gold at the Sveti Vlas Futures last week, the duo’s first Beach Pro Tour hardware.
The names of a number of Olympians also stand out among the strong women’s field in Alanya: Germany’s Louisa Lippmann, Lithuania’s Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte, Spain’s Tania Moreno and Czechia’s Marie-Sara Stochlova. All of these will grace the main draw courts starting on Thursday, while Paraguayan Olympians Giuliana Poletti Corrales & Michelle Valiente will take to the Turkish sand in Wednesday’s qualifications.
The Alanya Challenge tournament will be conducted with a 32-team main draw in each gender. It starts on Wednesday with the qualification rounds with eight teams progressing to the main draw and joining the 24 directly seeded. The main draw begins on Thursday with modified pool play, featuring eight pools of four teams each, playing two pool semifinals, a losers’ match and a winners’ match to determine the final pool standings. The teams that finish third in the pools will take on the runners-up of other pools in the sixteenthfinal single-elimination round, the winners of which will move to the eighthfinal round, where they will challenge the eight pool winners. Quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches will follow to determine the final tournament standings.
Women’s action in Alanya is set to get underway with Wednesday’s qualification tournament, serving off at 09:00 local time (06:00 UTC).
