Errani: 'I'll thank Jasmine for the rest of my life'
The clay of Roland Garros is clearly blessed for Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
Finalists at the Paris Grand Slam a little less than two months ago – after winning the WTA 1000 in Rome – the two friends perfectly mixed all the ingredients of their recipe to complete a new achievement in the French capital at the Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event.
Explosiveness, liveliness and accuracy both from the baseline and at the net and a magnificent desire to win: their qualities and their understanding allowed them to make a very big difference as they saw off Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova in their women's doubles semi-final on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Facing a Czech duo specially formed for these Olympics who impressed against Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula and who saved a match point before winning against Hsieh Su-Wei and Tsao Chia Yi in the quarter-finals, the Italians broke at the best of times - at the very end of the first set - to keep up the pressure and very quickly take control of the second set to complete a 6-3 6-2 triumph and secure at least an Olympic silver medal.
"I will have to thank Jasmine for the rest of my life for the effort she has put in helping me get this medal," said Errani after securing her first in her fifth Olympic Games. "It's incredible. It's unbelievable. We are so happy."
Their well-executed success is a fine reward for Errani's long and brilliant career, and indeed the incredible 2024 season of Paolini, the Roland Garros and Wimbledon runner-up.
A five-time Grand Slam champion, 36-year-old Errani collapsed to the clay with joy at the end of the match before bursting into tears and celebrating with the entire Italian team.
ITALIA! 🇮🇹
— ITF (@ITFTennis) August 2, 2024
Errani/Paolini defeat Noskova/Muchova 6-3 6-2 to reach the women's doubles final.#Paris2024 | #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/LHVrzeZibb
They could face a tricky test in their pursuit of women's doubles gold in Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider, who raced past Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-1 6-2 to reach the final.
They pair have looked an impressive combination this week, not least in their stunning 6-1 7-5 victory over Tokyo 2020 women's doubles champions Katerina Siniakova and Diana Shnaider on Thursday.
If the Italians do overcome their youthful counterparts, Errani will become the seventh player in history to achieve the Golden Slam after Gigi Fernandez, Pam Shriver, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
"For me, it's a dream come true, I've always had the Olympic Games in the back of my mind and to be here today and in the final is incredible," Errani said. "We are so happy, we played a great match today and we will try to stay focused to give the best of ourselves on Sunday and try to win this last match."
Disappointed her singles run stopped in the third round by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Paolini will have the opportunity to continue her dream summer and earn a slice of history for her country.
The runner-up at this year’s Roland Garros (in both singles and doubles) could not believe that she was now certain of having a medal around her neck at the end of these Paris 2024 Games.
"It's an incredible feeling and it's very special to say to yourself that you're going to have an Olympic medal," said Paolini. "It's an event that only takes place every four years and it's very difficult to achieve. I'm happy that we managed to do it."