Paolini beats Gauff to become first home player in 40 years to win the Italian Open
ROME (AP) — Jasmine Paolini took advantage of the crowd's support and beat Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-2 to become the first home player to win the Italian Open in 40 years on Saturday.
With top-ranked Jannik Sinner to play Carlos Alcaraz in the men's final on Sunday, Italy could earn its first sweep of the Rome singles titles.
The last Italian woman to win the open was Raffaella Reggi in 1985 in Taranto. The last local man to raise the trophy was Adriano Panatta in 1976.
Paolini and partner Sara Errani are also in the women's doubles final and will play Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens for that trophy on Sunday.
With the country's tennis boom in full force, Italy President Sergio Mattarella attended the woman's final at the Foro Italico.
Numerous fans held aloft Italian flags and they constantly shouted 'Vai Jasmine' ('Go Jasmine').
The fifth-ranked Paolini was the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon and led Italy to the Billie Jean King Cup title last year. She'll move up to No. 4 in the rankings on Monday — which will improve her position in the draw for the French Open next weekend.
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Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion who was ranked No. 3, struggled with unforced errors and double faults. It's the second time in two clay-court tournaments that Gauff has finished runner-up. She lost the Madrid Open final two weeks ago to Aryna Sabalenka.
Paolini also beat Gauff at a clay-court event in Stuttgart, Germany, in April.
Monica Seles in 1990 was the last woman to sweep Rome's singles and doubles titles in the same year.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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