The last Italian woman to win the open was Raffaella Reggi in 1985 in Taranto, with the last Italian man to raise the trophy being Adriano Panatta in 1976.
When Paolini hit a big serve down the T on her second championship point and Gauff couldn’t get it back, she celebrated with a big smile and raised her arms as she spun around in joy.
“It doesn’t seem real to me,” she said, “I came here as a kid to see this tournament but winning it and holding up this trophy wasn’t even in my dreams.”
The next day, Paolini and partner Sara Errani then won the women’s doubles final against Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens.
“It’s been two incredible weeks, and it’s not finished yet,” Paolini said after the singles final.
With the country’s tennis boom in full force, Italy President Sergio Mattarella attended the women’s final on Campo Centrale.
The fifth-ranked Paolini was the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon last year and led Italy to the Billie Jean King Cup title, while also winning Olympic gold in doubles with Errani at the Paris Olympics.
She will move up to No.4 in the rankings on Monday, which will improve her position in the draw for the French Open starting next weekend.
Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion who was ranked No.3, made a whopping 55 unforced errors to Paolini’s 20 and hit seven double faults to Paolini’s none.
It’s the second time in two clay-court tournaments that Gauff has finished runner-up, having lost the Madrid Open final two weeks ago to Aryna Sabalenka.
AAP
