Italy: Joyous Jasmine Paolini makes history seeing off Coco Gauff
Rome: Jasmine Paolini made Italian tennis history on May 17 by winning the Italian Open, convincingly beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2 to claim her second WTA 1000 title ahead of Roland Garros later in May.
Late-bloomer Paolini, who also won in Dubai in 2024, 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 2025 edition in the Italian capital.
And after reaching two Grand Slam finals in 2024, Paolini, who will be world No. 4 on May 19, will be gunning to go one better in Paris after a brilliant home tournament.
“Every time I go out onto the court I try to do so with joy, with passion and with a certain amount of calm,” she 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 the court and some fans openly bawled in the stands after a “dream week”.
On May 18, it got even better as she became the first woman since Monica Seles in 1990 to win the Italian Open singles and doubles titles, when she and Sara Errani beat Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens 6-4, 7-5.
The duo – who delivered Italy their first Olympic tennis gold at Paris 2024 – came back from four games down in both sets to retain their title.
Paolini, who lashed home the winning forehand on a sunny centre court, is the second woman to win the singles and doubles at a 1000 series event, after Vera Zvonareva at Indian Wells in 2009.
Paolini’s compatriot Jannik Sinner was contesting a blockbuster men’s singles final against rival Carlos Alcaraz later on May 18, with an Italian hat-trick of Rome titles still on the cards. That match ended after press time.
Paolini is the oldest woman to win her first Rome title during the Open era, while Gauff, eight years her junior, missed out on becoming the youngest American to take the crown since Serena Williams back in 2002.
In the final, Gauff made 55 unforced errors to go with seven double faults, making Paolini’s life unnecessarily easy.
Gauff, also a loser in the Madrid final earlier in May, 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,” she said.
“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 No. 2 heading into the French Open, lost five of her nine service games and ended a poor evening’s work with a failed service return, which handed Paolini possibly the biggest win of her career.
