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 cheering crowd. Paolini triumphed with scores of 6-4 and 6-2.

This victory came after one hour and 29 minutes of play. At 29 years old, Paolini is the first Italian woman to win since Raffaella Reggi in 1985. She is only the fourth overall winner since the tournament began in 1930.

Neither player held serve in the first three games. However, Paolini settled her nerves and took a 3-1 lead. From there, she dominated and closed out the set confidently.

In the second set, Paolini quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead with two breaks. Gauff managed to break back and hold her serve briefly. Still, 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. The decisive point came at 40-30 when Paolini hit an unstoppable shot down the middle.

With this win, Paolini will move up to fourth in world rankings on Monday. This ranking secures 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.