Rome: Jasmine Paolini has made history at the Italian Open, becoming the first Italian woman in 11 years to reach the final of the prestigious tournament. The 29-year-old delighted the home crowd in Rome with a determined 7-5, 6-1 victory over American Peyton Stearns on Thursday.
Paolini is the first Italian woman to reach the singles final since her doubles partner, Sara Errani, fell to Serena Williams in 2014. She will now face American Coco Gauff in the title clash, after Gauff battled past Zheng Qinwen 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4) in an epic semi-final that lasted over three and a half hours.
The road to the final has been anything but easy for Paolini. In her quarter-final match against Diana Shnaider, she found herself a set and 0-4 down before launching a remarkable comeback. Against Stearns, she once again started slow, quickly trailing 1-4 in the first set before turning the momentum in her favor.
“I am very happy, I don’t know what to say! It’s a dream to be here, it’s a dream to play in Italy, it’s a dream to be able to play the final,” Paolini said.
Stearns appeared poised to take the opening set after building a 3-0 lead, but Paolini clawed her way back, saving set points and drawing energy from the crowd. Her fierce determination culminated in a fist-pump and scream after leveling at 5-5, reigniting the home support. She went on to win four straight games to close out the first set in over an hour.
With momentum firmly on her side, Paolini overwhelmed Stearns in the second set, breaking the American five times and powering her way to a dominant finish. A wide forehand from Stearns on match point sealed the win, sending the crowd into celebration as Paolini raised her arms in triumph.
“You (the crowd) gave me a boost because today it was a bit of an uphill start and I struggled at the beginning, thank goodness you were there,” she told the fans.
“We won this match together. Point after point I managed to fight, to turn it around, even if at the beginning I did not have a good feeling. But I am happy with the way I managed to turn this match around.”
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff advanced to her first final in Rome with a hard-fought win over Zheng Qinwen. Gauff overcame momentum swings and a high-error contest to eventually outlast the Olympic silver medalist in a gripping match that featured 35 combined unforced errors in the first set alone. After letting a 5-3 lead slip, Gauff steadied herself in the final tiebreak to secure her second consecutive WTA 1000 final appearance, following her runner-up finish in Madrid.
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Sinner Crushes Ruud to Reach First Rome Semi-Final
The day brought more joy for Italian tennis as world number one Jannik Sinner delivered a masterclass in front of his home fans, dismantling Casper Ruud 6-0, 6-1 in the men’s quarter-final. Sinner, who is chasing his first title in Rome, dropped just seven points in a near-flawless opening set and strung together eight consecutive games before Ruud finally got on the scoreboard.
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The Norwegian raised his arms in jest to celebrate the lone game he managed to win, but Sinner remained laser-focused, closing out the match in just 63 minutes.
“I was feeling great on court today. I think we all saw that. My goal was trying to understand where my level is here in this tournament. It raised day by day, so I’m very happy about that,” Sinner said.
“It doesn’t matter really, the result, but how I felt today was a very, very positive sign for me… I think today everything worked very, very well. I was serving well and also returning well, moving great on the court.”
Sinner will next face American Tommy Paul in the semi-final, while the other men’s semi-final features an all-star clash between Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti and Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz.
