Italian hopes Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini thrilled the home crowd at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Sunday with a gritty 6-3, 4-6 [10-8] victory over No.3 seeds Coco Gauff and Erin Routliffe in the doubles final.

On the red clay of Center Court at the Foro Italico, the final went down to the last moment before the unseeded tandem of Errani and Paolini finished off the upset after 1 hour and 28 minutes of play, clinching the WTA 1000 title in Rome.

Words from the champions: "It's a dream come true to win here at Foro Italico," Paolini said after her team's victory. "Yeah, couldn't be more happy than this."

"Winning here, it's crazy," added Errani. "We were like 7-5, 4-0 down in the first round. Winning the tournament is incredible. I'm so happy and really proud of us."

Errani and Paolini added that they intend to team up for Roland Garros and the Olympics. Olympic qualification places will be decided after Roland Garros.

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Title totals rising: Errani and Paolini are the first Italians to claim the women's doubles title in Rome since 2012, when Errani paired with her compatriot Roberta Vinci to prevail. Errani and Vinci also made the Rome final in 2013 and 2014.

It is Errani and Paolini's second team title of the season and third overall. They had already teamed up to take championship trophies at WTA 250 Linz in February and WTA 250 Monastir last season.

Former WTA Doubles World No.1 Errani -- who won the Career Doubles Grand Slam with Vinci -- collected her milestone 30th doubles title in her nation's biggest city. For Paolini, this is her fourth doubles title, three of those coming alongside Errani.

Both of this year's clay-court WTA 1000 titles have gone to home-soil pairings. Prior to Errani and Paolini's triumph in the Italian capital, Spaniards Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo captured the Mutua Madrid Open in their own capital city.

Narrow margin: On Sunday, the first set quickly went the Italians' way, as they powered to a double-break lead at 5-2 and held on from there. Each team had nine winners in the opener, but Errani and Paolini had only five unforced errors, while their opponents had double that amount.

Gauff of the United States and New Zealand's Routliffe rebounded in the second set. On deciding point at 3-3, a crosscourt rally between Gauff and Errani went the American's way, sealing the pivotal break and propelling the showdown towards the decisive match-tiebreak.

Stronger net play by the No.3 seeds gave them an early 4-1 lead in the match-tiebreak, but costly double faults by both Gauff and Routliffe assisted the Italians in their comeback to 5-5.

A Routliffe smash put her team back ahead 8-6, but Errani and Paolini refused to yield. At 8-8, Routliffe sent a forehand down the line just wide, giving the Italian pair championship point.

The earlier double faults presaged the conclusion, when Gauff hit her team's sixth double fault on championship point. Errani and Paolini hoisted the trophy after going a perfect 4-for-4 on break points and firing 20 winners to just 11 unforced errors.