Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani dominate headlines as first Italians to win Olympic gold in tennis

The 2024 season has been memorable for Italian tennis star Jasmine Paolini, who continues to rack up the accolades as she captured gold alongside compatriot Sara Errani at the Paris Olympic Games.

The Italian duo looked unstoppable during their performance in Paris, as the tennis event took place on the familiar courts of Roland Garros. With the pair falling to the team of Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in the French Open final a few weeks ago, they seemed ready to give the red clay another shot as they battled their way to the final to face the team of Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider.

The Italians overcame dropping the first set to prevail in a third set tiebreak, pulling off an amazing 2-6 6-1 [10-7] victory to seal the gold for Italy. The duo etched their name in the record books, becoming the first Italians to win a gold medal for their country in the tennis event at the Olympics.

Paolini has been exceptional this season, initially capturing the biggest title of her career at Doha in February. However, her climb up the rankings would continue, as the 28-year old made back-to-back singles Grand Slam finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. This saw her vault into the top 5 on the WTA rankings table, reaching a career high of World No.5 in July. It comes as no surprise that Paolini, alongside compatriot Errani, are being featured on the cover of almost every national newspaper outlet in their native land of Italy following their achievement at the Olympics.