Errani and Paolini, Gauff and Siniakova battle into Paris doubles final

Italy added another accomplishment to their incredible 2024 Roland Garros as Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini battled into the women's doubles final.

Roland Garros: Scores | Draws

No.11 seeds Errani and Paolini overcame unseeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a 2-hour and 1-minute semifinal on Court Simmone Mathieu on Friday.

The Italians will meet No.5 seeds Coco Gauff of the United States and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in Sunday's final.

Teaming up for the very first time, Gauff and Siniakova were also down a set before ousting all-American No.8 seeds Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Forza fortnight: Paolini continues her breakthrough Slam, moving into her first Grand Slam doubles final a day after she made her first Grand Slam singles final. 

Paolini, who will face World No.1 Iga Swiatek in Saturday's singles final, is the third player in the last four editions of Roland Garros to make the singles and women's doubles finals in the same year. Barbora Krejcikova won both titles in 2021; Gauff reached both finals in 2022.

"It's unbelievable also to be here to support [Paolini]," said Errani. "To be in her corner is special also for me. We are so good friends. ... She already made me cry today. Let's see tomorrow what we can do, and let's see also Sunday."

Italy is represented in three of this weekend's finals -- Errani and Paolini's compatriots Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori are into the men's doubles final. Italy's Jannik Sinner lost in the men's singles semifinals but will still become the new ATP World No.1 on Monday.

A major doubles final is nothing new for former Doubles World No.1 Errani. The 37-year-old is into her ninth Grand Slam doubles final, and her first since 2014. Errani and Roberta Vinci won five Slams together between 2012 and 2014, including at all four majors.

With this latest result, Errani and Paolini extended their success this season. Last month, they teamed up to win the WTA 1000 Rome doubles title in front of a joyous home crowd.

Friday's semifinal in Paris was marked by two lengthy games. At 2-1 in the second set, Kostyuk and Ruse won a 19-minute, 13-deuce game, converting their tenth break point of that tussle. But the Italians rebounded from that grueling game, holding up better in rallies and grinding out the second set.

An 11-minute game opened the third set, and this time it was the Italians who prevailed on their third break point, grabbing the early lead. Errani and Paolini ran out the match from there, winning 80 percent of points returning first serves in the final set.

"The first set, I mean, we didn't see any balls," Paolini laughed. "They were just passing, and we were there and trying to fight. Then we said, 'OK, worse than this cannot go.' We managed to come back. It was a really tough match, but we are happy to be in the final."

Stellar pairing debut: In their first event as a team, former Doubles World No.1 players Gauff and Siniakova remained undefeated as a duo by winning the day's second semifinal in 1 hour and 58 minutes on Court Mathieu.

Reigning US Open singles champion Gauff is into her third Grand Slam women's doubles final, and is seeking her first title. Siniakova already has seven Grand Slam women's doubles titles, including two at Roland Garros partnering Krejcikova.

Gauff and Siniakova have been a strong pairing from the start, winning their first four matches of the event in routine straight sets. It looked as though it might be more of the same as they romped to a 5-2 lead on Friday.

However, big returns, particularly from Dolehide, pulled the eighth seeds back into contention. Dolehide and Krawczyk swept five games in a row to squeak out the one-set lead.

Gauff and Siniakova built another lead in the second set, but serving for the set at 5-4, Gauff stared down 0-40 on her delivery. Nevertheless, she and Siniakova fought back in that game, helped along by strong volleys from the Czech, and they tied the clash at one set apiece.

A Gauff backhand return winner sealed the first break of the third set for 3-2, and she saved two break points on her serve to consolidate for 4-2. At 5-2, a perfect Siniakova lob gave the pair match point, which was converted by a bold diving volley winner by Gauff.