Italy’s Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani successfully defended their Italian Open women’s doubles title on Sunday, which enabled Paolini to pull off a WTA feat last accomplished 16 years ago.
Third-seeded Paolini and Errani rallied from 4-0 deficits in both sets to claim a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova and Belgium’s Elise Mertens. On Saturday, the sixth-seeded Paolini defeated fourth-seeded Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2 to become the first Italian woman in 40 years to win the singles title in the country’s signature event.
The 29-year-old Paolini’s sweep of the singles and doubles at the Italian Open made her the first competitor to achieve the double at a WTA 1000 tournament since Vera Zvonareva of Russia did it in 2009 at Indian Wells.
“It’s amazing,” Paolini said. “It’s been two amazing weeks, incredible. I don’t know what to say. It’s just perfect, you know?”
–Field Level Media
