Errani/Paolini win Doha for third WTA 1000 title together

Third seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini captured the first WTA 1000 doubles title of the season at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open on Saturday with a 7-5, 7-6(10) win over Jiang Xinyu and Wu Fang-Hsien.

Doha: Draws | Scores | Order of Play

The Italians, the 2024 WTA Doubles Team of the Year, are now 3-0 in WTA 1000 finals as a pair in their careers, winning in Rome and Beijing last year. But to add a first Doha title together to their resumes, they needed to overcome a stern challenge from an in-form unseeded team already competing in their third final of 2025, and who had upset No. 2 seeds Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko earlier in the tournament. 

Errani and Paolini saved a pair of set points in the first set, and in the second, they came from 5-3 behind before a dramatic deciding tiebreak that pushed the total match time to nearly 2 hours. 

Errani and Paolini needed seven championship points to seal their triumph -- the first of which came in the 12th game of the set, before the 22-point deciding frame even began. Jiang and Wu later built a 5-3 lead in the tiebreak, but used bold, inspired play to turn aside three more championship points.

The third save knotted the tiebreak score at 8-8 -- and to add to the drama, the four players sat on court through a brief rain delay. Out of the break, Jiang and Wu had their only set point -- created when Paolini missed a second-serve return well long and wide -- but Errani wiped that chance away with a high forehand volley winner that just kissed the sideline.

"It was a really tough match ... they are playing amazing," Paolini said post-match. "Doubles, it's a little bit tricky with the deciding point and the tiebreak. Yesterday [when they saved match points to beat Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider] we were a little bit lucky, today maybe a little bit as well.

"It's been a special week here."

Errani first triumphed in Doha 12 years ago alongside former longtime partner Roberta Vinci -- "a long time ago!" she joked in the trophy presentation -- and the 37-year-old has now captured a total of eight WTA 1000 titles in doubles.