Today, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini are playing for a place in the final of the women’s doubles at the Italian Open. Yesterday, Italian men’s pairing of Bolelli and Vavassori secured their semi-final place.
Sara Errani playing with Roberta Vinci sealed the last victory for an all-Italian couple at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in 2012. The “Cichis” are also the last Italians in the final in this specialty at the Foro Italico; they were in fact beaten in the two subsequent years, in 2013 and 2014.
In the first scheduled match today, Errani tries to reach a new final ten years after the last one with Jasmine Paolini, who has never gone this far in the tournament.
If they succeed, they will become the ninth all-Italian pair in the women’s doubles final at the Internazionali BNl d’Italia. Before Errani and Vinci, came Rosetta Gagliardi-Anna Luzzatti (champions in 1931); Nicla Migliori-Vittoria Tonolli (finalists in 1952); Silvana Lazzarino-Lea Pericoli (finalists in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967); Sandra Cecchini-Raffaella Reggi (winners in 1985); Patrizia Murgo-Barbara Romanò (finalists in 1985); Laura Garrone-Laura Golarsa (finalists in 1990); Tathiana Garbin-Roberta Vinci (finalists in 2007).
To do so, they will have to beat Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk, seeds number 8, who this year reached the final at the Qatar Ladies Open and the WTA 1000 in Doha. The match starts at 2pm on Centre Court.
Bolelli and Vavassori into semis
Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori are confirming themselves as one of the top pairings in 2024. Whilst they are not yet seeded in a “1000”, they are second in the race (which considers the couple’s results from January 1st) which leads straight to the Finals in Turin.
Their quarter-final match was not as simple as the score – 6-4, 6-2 – would suggest, yet the Italians came out winners against Koolhof and Mektic: “Sometimes matches revolve around some important points and that second game of the first set made the difference,” said Vavassori. “I played three not very good points, but I found two heavy second ones and then two first ones. And in the next game the break came due to their double fault.”
Their next opponents, Arevalo and Pavic, defeated the Azzurri in the Monte-Carlo quarterfinals last month. “It was a very balanced match,” says Bolelli. “Arevalo served very well throughout the match and Pavic played very well at the net . We know how they play and what to expect. We are doing well: we will try to be aggressive and serve well. It will be a tough match, but we are prepared.”
