The medal rounds are finalized in women's doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, following straight-sets semifinals on Friday.
No.3 seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy were the first team to reach Sunday's gold-medal final. The Italians needed 1 hour and 7 minutes to beat Czechs Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-2.
A gold medal would give Errani the Career Golden Slam in women's doubles. She has already won all four Grand Slam doubles titles between 2012 and 2014 while she was partnering Roberta Vinci.
Errani and Paolini's opponents in the gold-medal final will be unseeded Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of the Individual Neutral Athletes, who topped No.8 seeds Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, 6-1, 6-2 in 1 hour and 14 minutes.
The gold-medal final runs the gamut in tour-level experience. The participants range in age from 37-year-old Errani, who completed her doubles Grand Slam set a decade ago, to 17-year-old Andreeva, last season's WTA Newcomer of the Year.
Friday's losing teams still have a chance to claim medals. Muchova and Noskova will face Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo in Sunday's bronze-medal match.
OLYMPIC FINAL! 🇮🇹😀
— Jasmine Paolini (@JasminePaolini) August 2, 2024
FORZAAAA ITALIA! pic.twitter.com/pB5MUtRLsS
Italian renaissance: Errani and Paolini have been one of the top teams on tour this season. They claimed a WTA 1000 title on their home soil on the clay of Rome, and another title indoors in Linz.
From May: Passion, camaraderie key in Errani and Paolini's Rome win
At this very site, the grounds of Roland Garros, Errani and Paolini have reached two bigtime finals this year. They were runners-up at the French Open in June, and now have a chance to go one further in the Olympic Games.
On Friday, Errani and Paolini met their moments when they came, converting all three of the break points they held, and saving all three of the break points they faced.
THROUGH TO THE FINAL! 😤
— ITF (@ITFTennis) August 2, 2024
Andreeva/Shnaider reach the women's doubles final as they defeat Bucsa/Sorribes 6-1 6-2.#Paris2024 | #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/rNwPyiwwZn
Surging youngsters: For teen Andreeva and 20-year-old Shnaider, this is a very different experience, as this week marks the first time they have paired up as a doubles team. Despite no recent history in their partnership, they are guaranteed a medal.
Andreeva and Shnaider's run through the Olympics include a win over defending gold medalists Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the quarterfinals, underlining their status as two of the most promising newcomers to tour.
Andreeva is ranked a career-high No.23 in singles, with Shnaider right behind at No.24. Andreeva made her first Grand Slam singles semifinal at this very site earlier this year at the French Open; Shnaider has won three singles titles this year, on three different surfaces.