Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini triumphed in a hard-fought battle at the French Open on Sunday, defeating Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic 6-4 2-6 6-1 to claim the women’s doubles crown.
For the second-seeded Italians, who are no strangers to success on the clay of Roland Garros, this victory is their first Grand Slam title together. Just last year, they stood atop the same court as Olympic champions, having clinched the gold medal in women’s doubles at the Paris 2024 Games.
For 38-year-old Errani, it was an especially emotional tournament. Earlier in the week, she played the final singles match of her professional career, falling in the second round of qualifying to Anna-Lena Friedsam. However, her doubles success more than made up for the early singles exit, as she leaves Paris with two titles: mixed doubles, alongside compatriot Andrea Vavassori, and now the women’s doubles crown with Paolini.
The final opened with both teams exchanging breaks midway through the first set. But with a crucial break at 5-4, Errani and Paolini edged ahead to take the opener. Danilina and Krunic responded with a dominant second set, leveling the match with relative ease. However, the Italians surged in the decider, breaking twice early on to race to a 5-0 lead. The match concluded when Krunic misfired a forehand into the net, sealing the Italians’ historic win.
While Paolini exited this year’s singles draw in the fourth round, she made a strong impression in doubles once again, having reached both the singles and doubles finals in Paris just a year ago.
Danilina and Krunic’s run to the final was nothing short of extraordinary. Playing just their third tournament as a team — and having teamed up only three days before the entry deadline — they defied expectations by upsetting three seeded pairs along the way, including top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the quarterfinals.