This content was published 5 years ago. It may refer to a past edition of the Internazionali d’Italia.

Gustavo Kuerten and Roberta Vinci were presented with the ‘Golden Racket’ in a special ceremony at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday.

The ‘Golden Racket’ is a prestigious award which is presented annually at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia to a male and female great of the game.

Brazil’s Kuerten won Roland Garros three times, lifted the trophy at the Tennis Masters Cup in 2000 and achieved the world No. 1 ranking. He enjoyed considerable success at the Foro Italico, reaching the final on three occasions including clinching the title in 1999 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012.

Vinci is a former top 10 singles player who won 10 career singles titles. She ended Serena Williams’ hopes of the calendar Grand Slam when defeating her in the semi-finals at the 2015 US Open to advance to her sole major final where she lost to compatriot Flavia Pennetta.

The Italian also enjoyed success on the doubles court, winning five Grand Slam titles and achieving the world No. 1 ranking. She was a member of four Fed Cup winning teams.

Kuerten received the accolade from former Italian player Nicola Pietrangeli while Lea Pericoli presented the award to Vinci.

Former winners of the ‘Golden Racket’
2006 Maria Esther Bueno and Tony Roche
2007 Margaret Court Smith and Ilie Nastase
2008 Gabriela Sabatini and Manolo Santana
2009 Conchita Martinez and Tom Okker
2010 Arantxa Sanchez and Andres Gimeno
2011 Ken Rosewall and Monica Seles
2012 Mary Pierce and Yannick Noah
2013 Boris Becker
2014 John Newcombe
2015 Michael Chang and Martina Hingis
2016 Stan Smith and Mima Jausovec
2017 Rod Laver and Flavia Pennetta
2018 Jan Kodes and Mara Santangelo
2019 Gustavo Kuerten and Roberta Vinci