Jasmine Paolini has become the first Italian player to conquer Rome in four decades.
The 29-year-old from Tuscany defeated Coco Gauff, the American world No 2, in straight sets to claim her second WTA 1000 title, following last year’s victory in Dubai, and her first on clay.
The sixth-seeded Paolini broke early in both sets and refused to relinquish the initiative, keeping her error count low and the quality of her ball-striking high as she rode the energy of a raucously partisan crowd to emulate Raffaella Reggi’s 1985 triumph.
True to form, she did it with a combination of smiles and steel, her rare setbacks greeted with a broad grin, her frequent successes with a clenched fist and a snarl of self-exhortation. Powerless to stem the tide, Gauff defiantly saved one match point with a rifled backhand winner, but she was merely delivering the inevitable. Moments later, Paolini delivered a stinging first serve to get the party started in earnest.
And what a party. The stadium DJ, no stranger to the volume controls throughout a memorable fortnight for Italian tennis, amped up the sound to deafening levels. With the champion’s mother, Jacqueline Gardiner, dancing in the stands and the Italian president Sergio Mattarella beaming his approval, Sara Errani, Paolini’s doubles partner, joined the fevered celebrations enveloping Campo Centrale. As for Paolini, she gambolled across the red dust, revelling in a buoyant atmosphere that she later described as “like a football stadium”.
Errani, alongside whom Paolini will contest the women’s doubles final against on Sunday, was the last Italian to reach the final at the Foro Italico, but that was in 2014. Here was a victory for today, for a nation riding an unprecedented tennis high and hopeful that Jannik Sinner, the men’s world No 1, can complete a clean sweep of singles honours for the Tricolore when he faces Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
“It’s amazing, it’s really a dream,” Paolini told Sky Sports Tennis. “I was coming to watch this tournament when I was a kid and now, holding the trophy, it’s unbelievable.
“I never thought I could hold this trophy one day, but today is a special day for me. I never played so well here, I never won two matches, but this year something changed.
“I think today was the best match I played here in Rome, I was controlling the ball really well. I stepped on court, I was tactically very focused, and the plan was clear. I did well, I didn’t do many mistakes, I was solid and it was a great match.
“In Italy, tennis is growing a lot and I’m really happy to be a part of it.”
If the outcome was a repeat of the Italian’s quarter-final victory over Gauff in Stuttgart last month, the manner of it was quite different.
On that occasion, Paolini had drawn on her ample reserves of tenacity and resolve to claw back an early deficit. This time, she went toe-to-toe from the outset, stepping inside the baseline, firing her groundstrokes with a depth and penetration to which Gauff had no answer.
“Jasmine played great tennis,” said Gauff, whose difficulties were compounded by 55 unforced errors. “Unfortunately, I felt like I didn’t bring my best, which I knew I needed today.
“That’s not to discredit my opponent. She forced me to play that way. Maybe I could have served better and put more balls in the court. But she played to win today and she deserved to win.”
With the dust now settled on the ecstatic highs of last summer, when Paolini reached two grand slam finals in quick succession at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, only to come up short on both occasions, this was a cathartic moment for the italian. Then, success came unexpectedly; now, the late-blooming champion has proved, yet again, that she can mix it with the best.
A double fault from Gauff on the opening point set the tone for a tough afternoon for the American, who struggled on second serve, winning a meagre 11 of 27 points, and hit seven double faults.
Paolini, meanwhile, set a breathless early pace, and while the initial exchanges were tightly contested, it was the Italian who emerged from a flurry of early breaks to establish a 3-1 lead. From there, the outcome was rarely in doubt.
Paolini, who rises one place to No 4 in the rankings, will now head to Roland Garros firmly embedded among the title favourites and confident in the knowledge that last year’s run to the final was no fluke. Could she go one better this time around? Only a fool would bet against it.