Errani, Paolini defend Rome doubles title in two come-from-behind sets

A perfect weekend for Italian women's tennis was capped off with defending champions Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini's 6-4, 7-5 victory over Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens in Sunday's Internazionali BNL d'Italia doubles final.

Do not let the scoreline fool you -- the Italian heroines needed to work extremely hard to collect their second straight Rome title. No. 3 seeds Errani and Paolini had to mount massive comebacks from 4-0 down in each set to capture the straight-sets win.

Rome: Draws | Scores | Order of play

But they did successfully come from behind each time, taking down the recently re-teamed Kudermetova and Mertens in a 1-hour and 45-minute thriller on Campo Centrale at the Foro Italico.

"It was an incredible atmosphere," said former WTA Doubles World No. 1 Errani. "The stadium was full of people, so was so nice. Was a tough match, 4-0 both sets. Not easy match. They play so good. They play so strong."

Jasmine's flawless fortnight: Paolini added another milestone to her history-making weekend, a day after becoming the first Italian woman in 40 years to win the Internazionali BNL d'Italia singles title. 

By taking this fortnight's doubles title as well, Paolini is the first player to win both the singles and doubles titles at a single WTA 1000 tournament since Vera Zvonareva claimed both titles at 2009 Indian Wells.

"It's amazing," Paolini said. "It's been two amazing weeks, incredible. I don't know what to say. It's just perfect, you know?"

Two in a row: Errani and Paolini are the first players to win back-to-back Rome doubles titles since Ashleigh Barty did it in 2018 (with Demi Schuurs) and 2019 (with Victoria Azarenka).

This is actually Errani's third Rome doubles title. She also won the event back in 2012 with another Italian doubles legend, her long-time teammate Roberta Vinci.

Comeback queens: Kudermetova and Mertens were playing only their second event together since 2022 -- a year they finished as the WTA Finals champions. They re-paired at WTA 1000 Madrid earlier this month, and they made that final too.

They maintained that form to start Sunday's Rome final, racing out to a 4-0 lead in the first set. But Errani and Paolini held for 4-1 to break the spell after Kudermetova fired a shot long on deciding point.

With exceptional depth of shot, the Italians methodically pulled their way back into contention, picking off six consecutive games to steal the one-set lead from a dire deficit.

Errani and Paolini were stronger on pressure points in the first set -- from 4-3 down, they won the next three games via the no-ad deciding point. Each one of those points was finished off with an Errani winner in or near the forecourt.

The second set was even tighter, but the Italians would not be denied. Again, Errani and Paolini battled back from 4-0 to 4-4, but this time around, Mertens was the winning volleyer as she broke for 5-4.

In the next game, a Mertens overhead winner gave her and Kudermetova one set point. But once more, Errani and Paolini came out on top on a deciding point, forcing a Kudermetova rally forehand wide and reaching 5-5.

After yet another escape, Errani and Paolini felt destined to prevail. And in fact, they did, when Paolini cranked a forehand return winner on their first championship point -- which, naturally, was on deciding point.