Paolini, the sixth seed, defeated unseeded American Peyton Stearns 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday to become just the third Italian woman to reach the final of her national open in the Open Era. Sara Errani lost in the 2014 final, and Raffaella Reggi was the last Italian to win the trophy back in 1985.
In the nightcap, the fourth-seeded Gauff outlasted eighth seed Zheng Qinwen of China 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (4) to become the first American woman since 2016 to reach the Rome final.
Paolini may have the home crowd on her side, but her path through the singles draw hasn’t been easy. She defeated No 17 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the round of 16 before winning a three-setter against Russian No 13 seed Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals.
Against Stearns, Paolini saved five of seven break points and won 21 of 32 points on second return (65.6 percent).
“I’m trying to be in the mindset that last year was a great year, but it gives me a lot of confidence,” said the 29-year-old Paolini, whose only previous WTA 1000 title came at Dubai in 2024.
“I have to remember that, a lot of experience that I have … under my belt.
“At the same time, this year is another year. It’s different, completely different story.”
Gauff’s victory over Zheng lasted a whopping three hours and 32 minutes.
After Gauff pulled out a set victory in the first tiebreaker, Zheng controlled the second set. The player from China led 3-0 and 4-1 before hanging on to win the set and even the match.
Zheng and Gauff traded leads in the third until Zheng staked a 5-3 lead and served for the match. Gauff made sure her opponent would lose that game, though, then held serve to tie it at 5-5.
In the eventual tiebreaker, Gauff fell behind 2-0 before racing ahead with four straight points and soon finishing the job.
“I was just trying to go for every point,” she said.
“I knew before it was going to be a physical match. Last time we played was over three hours.
“Overall I’m just happy. Wasn’t my best level at all, to be honest. Just happy to get through it and through to another final.”
Gauff hasn’t won a title since the WTA Finals in November.
The 21-year-old lost the Madrid Open final to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus this month. (Reuters)
