Paolini cruises past Gauff to claim historic Italian Open title

Blitz Bureau

NEW DELHI: Jasmine Paolini made history by becoming the first Italian girl to win the Italian Open in four decades after defeating Coco Gauff of the United States 6-4, 6-2 in the final at Campo Centrale .

Paolini is the first woman to prevail at her country’s biggest event since Raffaella Reggi in 1985, 40 years ago. Also, Reggi won the title when the event was held in Taranto, meaning Paolini was the first woman to win the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title in her national capital of Rome during the Open Era (since 1968). She thus became the third Italian woman in the Open Era to reach the Rome final after coming from 4-1 down in the first set, saving two set points, to defeat Peyton Stearns 7-5, 6-1 in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

In the summit clash between two Top-5 players, Paolini needed just 1 hour and 29 minutes to best Gauff and pick up her second career WTA 1000 title, following her triumph in Dubai in 2024. This is Paolini’s third WTA singles title overall — and her first on clay.

Gauff won their first two career meetings, but those were on hard court, and Paolini has taken control of their rivalry on clay. Paolini beat Gauff for the first time last month in Stuttgart on indoor clay, and now she has backed up that win on the dirt in Rome, levelling their overall head-to-head at 2-2.

Paolini is now projected to return to her career-high ranking of World No. 4 on Monday, just in time for a likely Top 4 placement in the Roland Garros seedings. Gauff, meanwhile, will still rise back to her career-high ranking of No. 2 on May 19.

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