Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy pulled off a come-from-behind victory to clinch the Olympic gold medal in women's doubles, wrapping up the tennis event at the 2024 Paris Games.
No.3 seeds Errani and Paolini shook off a tough first set and outlasted unseeded youngsters Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider of the Individual Neutral Athletes 2-6, 6-1, [10-7] in the championship match on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros.
Historic moments: With the Olympic gold medal, Errani completes the Career Golden Slam in women's doubles. She teamed with Roberta Vinci to win all four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles between 2012 and 2014.
Errani and Paolini also made history for their country. This is the first Olympic gold medal for Italy in any of the tennis events, and the first tennis medals of any color for Italian women.
Commanding on clay: Errani and Paolini have had an exceptional season, especially on clay. They won the WTA 1000 title on home soil at Rome in May, then reached the French Open doubles final at this very site in June. The pair has a 26-8 win-loss record on tour this year.
Passion, camaraderie key in Errani and Paolini's Rome win
On Sunday, the veteran experience of Errani combined with Paolini's breakthrough form, overcoming the power plays from their younger opponents. The ages of the players in the gold-medal final ranged from 37-year-old Errani to 17-year-old Andreeva.
Silver lining: The week has still been quite productive for Andreeva and 20-year-old Shnaider, who earned the Olympic silver medal. They upset three seeded teams in straight sets en route to the final, and were a set away from a fourth before the Italians stormed back from behind.
Golden points: Andreeva and Shnaider powered past the Italians in the first set, and Shnaider had 40-0 on her serve to open the second set. But Errani and Paolini shored up their groundstrokes and court positioning, breaking Shnaider and sweeping through the second set.
With outstanding lobs and volleys, Errani was a dominant force as she and Paolini took a 7-3 lead in the decisive match-tiebreak. Andreeva and Shnaider pulled as close as 8-7, but one more potent Errani volley forced an error from Shnaider to reach double championship point.
On the first match point, Andreeva found the net with a forehand after 1 hour and 24 minutes of play, and Errani and Paolini bounded around the court as Olympic champions.
going going GOLD 💛🏅@SaraErrani and @JasminePaolini capture the gold medal in Paris! @olympics | #Olympics | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/nwKQ2liENW
— wta (@WTA) August 4, 2024
Spain takes bronze: No.8 seeds Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain clinched the Olympic bronze medal in women's doubles on Sunday, defeating Czechs Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 6-2, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros.
The story behind Sorribes Tormo and Bucsa's historic title run in Madrid
In only their second event as a pairing, Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo end up as Olympic medalists, improving their team win-loss record to 9-1. They paired up for the first time at this year's Mutua Madrid Open, and promptly won that title on their home soil.
Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo won over three-quarters of their first-service points in Sunday's match, and they broke the Czechs' serves five times. That was more than enough to ease through the bronze-medal final in 1 hour and 14 minutes.
This is Spain's first medal in women's doubles since 2008, when Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual won the silver in Beijing.
