WTA Rome: End 40 years of waiting! Paulini defeated Gauff to be crowned women's singles crown

On May 17, local time, the women's singles champion was decided in Rome in WTA1000, Italy's first sister and No. 6 seed Paulini defeated No. 4 seed Gauff 6-4/6-2 in 1 hour and 29 minutes, becoming the first local player to win the women's singles championship in the past 40 years, winning the second 1000 championship of her career, and it was also her third championship on tour and her first clay title.

"Winning in Rome is certainly a dream come true...... Probably for every kid who plays in Italy, I'm enjoying the moment, it's just wonderful. "When I was a kid I used to watch the game with my father, and today he's sitting on the sidelines, and I don't know if he's in tears. It's pure happiness to lift this trophy in Rome and I'm really happy and I'm very grateful. ”

Commenting on her performance, Paulini said it was the best game of her career in Rome: "I tried to focus on the game and kept telling myself 'no matter what, every ball has to be played to the end.'" 'I felt like it was great at the start of the fight, I tried to play more aggressively because I knew I had to play at a better level than I had in the previous games against Coco [Gauff] and I did that and it was the best game I've played here. ”

Paulini won the championship on home soil

With the victory, Paulini rewrote her head-to-head record with Gauff to 2-2, with the first two meetings between the two sides coming on hard courts, all of which were won by Gauff, and Paulini won back-to-back clays in Stuttgart and Rome in the last two meetings.

Paulini's trip to Rome doesn't end there, as she will defend her Women's Doubles title tomorrow with compatriot Errani, who will face Kudermetova/Mertens in the final. If Paulini wins double on home soil, she will become the first player since Indian Wells' Zvonareva in 2009 to be crowned a doubles double in WTA1000.

Paulini's path to victory

First round: bye

Second round: 6-4/6-3 Sun Lulu

Third round: 6-4, 6-3 Abdul-Jabbar[27]

Fourth round: 7-5, 6-2 Ostapenko[17]

1/4 Finals: 6-7 (1)/6-4/6-2 Schneider[13]

Semi-finals: 7-5, 6-1 Stearns

Final: 6-4, 6-2 Gauff[4]

In next week's new rankings, Paulini's world ranking will return to his personal high of No.4, and Gauff, who finished runner-up in the women's singles at the Clay 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, also equalled his personal highest ranking of No.2. With the end of Rome, the top eight seeds in the women's singles at this year's French Open have settled, with Paulini locking up the No. 4 seed and defending champion Swiatek missing out on the top four.

Top eight seeds in the 2025 French Open Women's Singles

Sabalenka[1]

Gauff[2]

Pegula[3]

Paulini[4]

Swiatek[5]

Andreyeva[6]

Case[7]

Zheng Qinwen[8]

(Text, Editor/Faye Wong, Photo/Visual China)