Paolini delights home crowd by reaching 'dream' Italian Open final
Home hope and sixth seed Paolini became the third Italian woman to reach the Foro Italico final, and the first since her doubles partner Sara Errani was thumped by Serena Williams in 2014.
The 29-year-old will face one of Coco Gauff and China's Zheng Qinwen, who beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday night, with that contest the last match of the day on centre court.
"It's a dream of mine to get to the final here. It was a difficult start, thank goodness you were all here to give me a boost," Paolini said on court.
"I didn't have a great feeling at the beginning of the match but I'm really happy about how I managed to turn it around."
Paolini was favourite to get past unseeded Stearns but early on her American opponent showed why she got to her first 1000 series semi-final by knocking out a succession of big names including Naomi Osaka and fifth seed Madison Keys.
Paolini looked way off the pace when she lost the first three games of the match in surprisingly timid fashion, serving weakly and mishitting a host of simple shots.
But she slowly began to force herself back into the contest, putting pressure on Stearns to find shots with her serving and finding both more power and accuracy on her forehand.
Stearns' frustration was clear to see after being broken to allow Paolini to serve for the set, lashing her racket into her bag before giving herself a telling off in her seat.
And a break of serve in the third game of the second set deflated Stearns, whose fate was sealed two games later when Paolini took the third of three break points, roaring her joy to her delighted supporters in the centre court stands before comfortably seeing out the match.
Paolini could yet win both the singles and women's doubles tournaments, with her and Errani taking on Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider in the semi-finals on Friday.
Paul eyes Sinner
Tommy Paul set up a potential semi-final in the men's tournament with Jannik Sinner after beating Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to move into the last four in Rome.
American Paul come through a humdrum quarter-final to reach the Foro Italico semis, where he awaits one of Sinner or Casper Ruud, for the second straight year.
"I just feel comfortable out here and yeah I've been playing some good tennis this week," said Paul.
Sinner faces by the far the toughest test since his return from a three-month doping ban when he takes on sixth seed Ruud in the first of two evening matches on centre court.
The world number one is yet to drop a set on home clay but Ruud is on a hot streak and eyeing a second straight 1000 Masters triumph after breaking his duck in Madrid earlier this month.
Norwegian Ruud has won more matches on clay than any other player on the men's tour in the last five years and Sinner is still finding his feet after his suspension, accepted from the World Anti-Doping Agency for testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year.
If Sinner gets through to the semis it will be the first time two Italian men have reached the last four of a Masters 1000 tournament since the series' creation 35 years ago, with Lorenzo Musetti facing Carlos Alcaraz on Friday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
4 hours ago
- France 24
Ledecky closes US swim championships with 1,500m free victory
Bobby Finke and Gretchen Walsh also grabbed their third wins of the week in Indianapolis, Indiana, to set themselves up for multiple medal campaigns in Singapore. Ledecky clocked 15min 36.76sec to win the 1,500m free by more than 25 seconds. Claire Weinstein, who swam in a different heat of the timed finals was second-fastest in 16:01.96. "I just wanted to put together a pretty even swim, hold a good pace,' Ledecky told NBC Sports. "That one hurt, but I'll take it, move on to Singapore," added the US great, who also won the 400m and a "really good" 800m free this week and finished second in the 200m free. Ledecky heads to a seventh World Championships aiming to add to her 21 world titles. "I'm excited," she said. "I mean, I have been to a lot of these, but I still feel like I get the same excitement, the same energy from the team." Finke won the men's 800m free in 7:43.13, more than six seconds ahead of Rex Maurer. Finke, who set the men's 1,500m free world record in defending his Olympic title in Paris, also won that event along with the 400m medley -- although he has indicated he won't swim the medley in Singapore. Walsh won the women's 50m freestyle in an American record-equalling 23.91sec to close out a stellar week that saw her win the 100m butterfly with the second-fastest time ever and the 50m fly in the fourth-fastest time ever. Jack Alexy won the men's 50m free in 21.36, the top time in the world this year. Santo Condorelli, the 30-year-old who has competed in the Olympics for both Canada and Italy, was second in 21.68 to earn a chance to represent the United States for the first time in international competition. Shaine Casas won the men's 200m individual medley in 1:55.73, just three-hundredths of a second in front of Carson Foster, Casas notching another victory after his triumph in the 100m butterfly. Alex Walsh won the women's 100m medley in 2:08.45 with Phoebe Bacon taking second in 2:09.22. © 2025 AFP
France 24
7 hours ago
- France 24
Manassero, Fox share PGA Canadian Open lead with plenty in pursuit
Fox also fired seven birdies and a bogey at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, their 14-under par total of 196 putting the leaders one stroke clear atop a congested leaderboard, with 22 more players within four strokes of the lead. On a day when as many as 11 players shared the lead at one point, Manassero was the first to reach 14-under with his sixth birdie of the day at the 15th. He bogeyed 17, where he was in the left rough off the tee and missed a four-footer to save par, but he birdied the par-five 18th. "It was a really good round," Manassero said. "I missed the short one on 17, and I did miss a couple more short ones today. I try to think of them just like a shot really, like a driver, like a six-iron, whatever. It's just a shot. "It wasn't that hard for me to stay focused into what I was doing and not ruining (it) at the end." Manassero, a five-time winner on the DP World Tour, is seeking his first US tour title. The 32-year-old Italian has revived his career after briefly walking away from the game in the midst of a prolonged slump. He claimed his first DP World Tour victory in more than a decade in March of 2024. "It's definitely made me more mature and much better perspective towards golf, which at one point was everything," he said of the ups and downs of his career. "I have a better perspective towards, for example, a day like tomorrow." Fox, 38, is aiming to build off his first US PGA Tour title, captured in a playoff at the Myrtle Beach Classic last month. He launched his round with three straight birdies and had five on the front nine, bouncing back from a bogey at 11 -- where he was in the water -- with birdies at 12 and 18. Stress-free golf "To be honest, everything went pretty right," Fox said. "I drove it great. I think, if you do that round here, you give yourself lots of chances. "Had a lot of good wedge shots, holed a few putts early. Just played really solid kind of stress-free golf for the most part." Americans Lee Hodges and Mat McCarty and Taiwan's Kevin Yu were tied for third on 13-under 197. Hodges bookended his seven-under 63 with eagles at the first and 18th, with three birdies in between. Yu had eight birdies and a bogey in his 63 while McCarty had seven birdies in his 64. Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and Americans Jake Knapp and Andrew Putnam were tied on 12-under, one stroke clear of a group of seven players on 11-under 199. Ireland's Shane Lowry headlined a group of nine players on 200. Fox said his victory last month had him feeling "more comfortable in my own shoes," but he with so many within striking distance he said that Sunday promised to be a shoot-out. "Obviously there's a lot of good players behind me," he said. "I feel like it's going to take a pretty low (score) to get the job done." © 2025 AFP
France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Sovereignty reigns over Journalism again in Belmont
After sitting out the Preakness, won in scintillating fashion by Journalism, Sovereignty returned to win the anticipated rematch in convincing fashion, pulling away in the final straight to relegate Journalism to second again. Baeza was third to complete the repeat of the Kentucky Derby one-two-three. Italian jockey Umberto Rispoli guided the Michael McCarthy-trained Journalism to the front as they turned for home, closely tracked by Sovereignty -- who was taken wide by jockey Junior Alvarado and powered past to win by three lengths. Sovereignty, who had given the Godolphin stables a long-awaited first Kentucky Derby victory, became the first horse two win two legs of the Triple Crown since Justify became the 13th horse to sweep all three in 2018. Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock, said the decision to give Sovereignty the five weeks' rest he has become used to paid off with a "fantastic result". "We knew he was a very good horse going into the Kentucky Derby and he showed it that day. "And to come back here again and beat a really, really good horse like Journalism today, running one-two again like they did in the Derby -- it was a fantastic result for us here." Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott said he was "on a cloud". "The horse proved himself," McCarthy said. "The form held up -- the first three finishers in the Derby were one-two-three today, and I think it just was a great race." For the second straight year the grade one race, with a purse of $2 million, was run at Saratoga because of ongoing renovations at Belmont Park, the distance again reduced from the Belmont's traditional 1 1/2 miles to 1 1/4. Journalism was the only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races this year.
