The Italians waited 11 years for this day. The last representative of the hosts in the final of the Single Tournament in Rome is Sara Errani, today doubles of doubles Jasmine Paolini. On Saturday, Paolini's rival in match American Coco Gauff was for the title. This is the start of the fifth rocket of the world with the third.
In the first minutes there were a lot of nerves from both tennis players. They quickly lost the service, they did not always hit the court, Au Gauff especially failed forhend. Paolini was the first to support her and jumped back to 3: 1.
I saw with my own eyes how from the very beginning of the match after each ball won by the Italian, the stands in Rome were raging with joy. Singing, screams “Forza Jasmine”, countdown of subsequent points. It was a real holiday of Italian tennis.
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In the following minutes, errors from Coco Gauff multiplied. The American took over the initiative in exchanges, but too often spoiled. After one of the mistakes, she spread her hands helplessly and looked at her team. This is not how the final was supposed to look in her performance.
Coco Gouff errors
Gauff was able to work out great positions to score a point, but what if she was throwing the ball far in the cars at the end. It only made Paolini, who ran like in a trance on the court, counting on the next mistakes of the rival. She also sometimes could answer aggressively – e.g. at 30:30 in the sixth game, when the brilliant Forhend on the line surprised the opponent, and the fans rubbed their eyes in amazement.
At some point, Jasmine Paolini's sacrifice could end tragically when, after reaching the drops, she stumbled and fell to the court. The stands froze for a moment, but the tennis player got up quickly, nothing happened to her. She only went to wipe off the meal, and when she returned, she received a great applause.
Coco Guff scored a point at the time, but she lost the first set 4: 6 anyway. Perhaps it is a matter of a unique atmosphere accompanying this meeting. Virtually the entire stadium was behind Jasmine Paolini, and in such conditions the rival is never easily played. The American was nervous, waving her arms more and more often.
Italians sometimes exaggerated with reactions, such as the last game of the opening party. At the ball at 40: 0 for Polini, one of the fans began to enjoy when the action lasted and the Italian was to smoke. Other fans silenced him, the point finally went to Paolini's account, and representatives of the tournament authorities quickly drew attention to a loud fan.
Paolini has gone down in history!
The beginning of the second set was terribly for Coco Gauff. She was broken twice, the statistics counted her next mistakes, the service did not work. On the other side she had a solid Jasmine Paolini, who also allowed herself to do more from minute to minute, she attacked more often, seeing her rival her broken. After a while it was 4: 1 for Paolini.
Gaufff could not react that day and stop the speeding rival who decided on bolder actions. The second set was already completely one -sided, and Italians could finally celebrate historical success. The triumph of Jasmine Paolini is the first victory in Rome of the country's representative since 1985, when Rafaella Reggi turned out to be the best. Exactly 40 years have passed!
29-year-old Jasmine Paolini jumped last year to a level she had never been before. She was promoted to TOP 10, and this is a consequence of two Grand Slam finals – Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She also led the team to win in Billie Jean King Cup, and in the couple with Sara Errani won gold at the Games in the doubles.
The beginning of this season was not so successful for her, and a new challenge is a gigantic expectation. She had never had to deal with similar expectations before, also in Owners. In April, Paolini unexpectedly decided to part with the many years of coach Renzo Furlan, who, due to last year's successes, received in December from Wt Award for trainer of the year. Spaniard Marc Lopez became the new coach of Italian, former collaborator of Rafael Nadal. When we talked to local journalists in Rome, they admitted that no one expected such a choice as Lopez. Now these two are celebrating the first great success on Foro Italico!
In turn, Coco Gouff in Rome reached the finals of the WTA 1000 rank event for the second time – and at the same time a second time with a distance of several days. She lost early in the final match in Madrid with Aryna Sabalenko, and in the semi -final in Spain she broke the Iga Świątek 6: 1, 6: 1.
Regardless of the result of the Roman match for the title, the American will be one of the favorites of the upcoming Roland Garros, like Jasmine Paolini. The event in the French capital starts on May 25. In Paris, Iga Świątek will perform as a defender of the title, who has not recently had the best weeks, but on the other hand it would be crazy.
On Sunday, the hosts may have more joy in the Italian capital. In the male final of the single Jannik Sinner He will face Carlos Alcraz, and in the doubles of the ladies Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani will compete with Elise Mertens and Weronika Kudermietowa.