Paolini ends 40-year wait for home winner of Italian Open

Jasmine Paolini delivered an impressive performance against Coco Gauff. She won in straight sets, ending a 40-year wait for a home winner at the Italian Open.

The match took place at Foro Italico in Rome. Italian president Sergio Mattarella was among the crowd cheering for Paolini. She triumphed with scores of 6-4 and 6-2.

Paolini finished the match in one hour and 29 minutes. At 29 years old, she became the first Italian woman to win since Raffaella Reggi in 1985. She is only the fourth Italian woman to win since the tournament began in 1930.

The match started with both players struggling to hold serve. After three games, Paolini settled her nerves and took a 3-1 lead. From there, she dominated and closed out the first set confidently.

In the second set, Paolini quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead with two breaks. Gauff managed to break back and held her serve briefly. However, Gauff could not regain momentum as Paolini controlled the rest of the set.

Gauff saved one match point but could not stop Paolini's final serve. At 40-30, Paolini sealed her victory with an unstoppable shot down the middle.

This win will move Paolini up to fourth in world rankings on Monday. It also gives her a top-four seed for next weekend's French Open.

Paolini may also compete for titles in both singles and women's doubles tournaments. She partners with Sara Errani against Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens in Sunday’s final.

Monica Seles was the last woman to win both singles and doubles tournaments in Rome back in 1990. Vera Zvonareva is the only player to achieve this feat at a WTA 1000 series event since then.

Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner will face Carlos Alcaraz in a highly anticipated men's singles final on Sunday.