Rome (AFP) – Jasmine Paolini made Italian tennis history on Saturday by winning the Italian Open, convincingly beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2 to claim her second 1000 series title ahead of Roland Garros later this month. Late bloomer Paolini, who also won in Dubai last year, is the first Italian woman to win the Rome event since Raffaella Reggi in 1985 after overcoming former US Open champion Gauff in straight sets.
The hugely popular 29-year-old delighted the packed centre court at the Foro Italico by winning the first of a potential three titles for local players at this year’s event in the Italian capital. After reaching two Grand Slam finals last year, Paolini, who will be world number four on Monday, will be gunning to go one better in Paris after a brilliant home tournament.
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“Every time I go out onto the court I try to do so with joy, with passion and with a certain amount of calm,” Paolini told reporters. “It’s important for me to go out there and try to have fun, not take things lightly as such but at the same time not have too much in the way of expectations. I do what I love for my job and that makes me hugely lucky.”
Paolini danced with joy on court and some fans openly bawled in the stands after a “dream week” which is not over yet, as she could yet win both the singles and women’s doubles tournaments. The Tuscan and Sara Errani, who was in the crowd on Saturday, will take on Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens in another final on Sunday. Paolini and Errani, who also won Italy a first-ever Olympic gold in tennis in Paris last year, will be favorites to retain their Rome title.
Monica Seles was the last woman to win the singles and doubles tournaments in Rome in 1990, while the only player ever to do so in a 1000 series tournament was Vera Zvonareva at Indian Wells in 2009. Paolini’s compatriot Jannik Sinner will contend a blockbuster men’s singles final against rival Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, with an Italian hat-trick of Rome titles still on the cards.
Paolini is the oldest woman to win her first Rome title during the Open Era, while Gauff, eight years Paolini’s junior, missed out on becoming the youngest American to take the crown since Serena Williams back in 2002. Similarly to her battling semi-final win over Zheng Qinwen, Gauff made 55 unforced errors to go with seven double faults on serve, making Paolini’s life unnecessarily easy.
Gauff, also a loser in the Madrid final earlier this month, was visibly livid with her performance which started with a double fault and continued with sloppy shots throughout the match. “Hopefully I can get to the final in Roland Garros and maybe the ‘third time lucky’ thing is a real thing,” Gauff told reporters. “I made the final with those errors. Made the final maybe not playing my best tennis. It just gives me confidence if I can find that good form heading into Roland Garros, I can do well there.”
Gauff, who will nevertheless be world number two heading into the French Open, lost five of her nine service games and ended a poor evening’s work with a failed service return attempt which handed Paolini possibly the biggest win of her career.
© 2024 AFP
