Before May 17, 2025, only three Italian women had managed to win the singles title at the Italian Open: the first was Lucia Valerio, a true dominant figure in Italian tennis in the postwar period and winner of the second edition of the tournament, held in 1931 at the original venue, the Tennis Club Milano; in 1950 it was the turn of Annelies Ullstein Bossi, born in Dresden and naturalized Italian, champion at the Foro Italico in Rome; and last but not least, Raffaella Reggi, winner of the 1985 edition held in Taranto.

Then she arrived: 163 centimeters of fierce determination, dynamite in her legs, and rock-solid technique. Jasmine Paolini crushed the competition, delivering ten days of breathtaking tennis that propelled her back up to fourth place in the world rankings. The final was just the last step in an exhilarating climb, during which the Tuscan player put together solid performances and thrilling comebacks, defeating in order: Lulu Sun (WTA No. 46); Ons Jabeur (No. 36); Jelena Ostapenko (No. 18); Diana Shneider (No. 11); Peyton Stearns (No. 42). Finally, on the day of the final, the designated victim was none other than American rising star Coco Gauff (No. 3), who was defeated 6-4, 6-2 in a one-sided match that quickly turned into a tennis lesson generously delivered by our Jas.

The day after the triumph, on Sunday, May 18, the home crowd was treated to a double victory: in the doubles final, the team of Jasmine Paolini and the evergreen Sara Errani (a duo capable of winning seven titles, including a stunning Olympic gold in Paris 2024) defeated the Russian-Belgian pair Kudermetova/Mertens 6-4, 7-5. They came back from 0-4 in both sets, managing to repeat the previous year’s success. Paolini thus became the second Italian to win both the singles and doubles titles in the same edition of the Italian Open; the first was the aforementioned Raffaella Reggi in 1985, who had partnered with Sandra Cecchini in doubles.