Jasmine Paolini Becomes First Italian Player to Win Rome Title in 40 Years
Paolini faced off against Coco Gauff of the United States in the final of the 2025 Italian Open.
Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 29, defeated Coco Gauff of the United States, 21, to win the Women’s Singles title at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome, Italy (a WTA 1000 event). The score in the final was 6-4 and 6-2 in favor of Paolini.
This was the fourth match Gauff and Paolini have played against each other on the WTA Tour - with Gauff leading 2-1 in their head-to-head. Today’s victory was the first title Paolini has won on the 2025 WTA Tour and the third title of her career in single’s competition. Notably, this was the first title she has claimed from a clay court event and her second from a 1000-level tournament. Moreover, she becomes the second player representing Italy to win at her home country event during the Open Era - following Raffaella Reggi in 1985!
Heading into this tournament, Gauff was ranked as the Number 3 tennis player on the 2025 WTA Tour, while Paolini carried the Number 5 designation. By winning in Rome, Paolini has received 1,000 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Gauff has picked up 650 points.
Iga Świątek of Poland (No. 2) was the tournament’s reigning champion. This year as the second seed, she lost in the third round against Danielle Collins of the United States (No. 35). Furthermore, Gauff and Paolini were the event’s fourth and sixth seeds, respectively. The Top 32 seeds received a bye into the second round of competition.
Just like the results of the Madrid Open two weeks ago, the Number 2 ranking on the WTA Tour was up for grabs based on what happened in Rome. Gauff will now rise to that position - tying her career-best ranking in single’s competition. By winning the title, Paolini will also tie her career-best ranking at Number 4. As such, that will push Świątek down to the Number 5 position.
Paolini arrived in the final after winning against Lulu Sun of New Zealand (No. 46), 27th seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia (No. 36), 17th seed Jeļena Ostapenko of Latvia (No. 18), 13th seed Diana Shnaider of Russia (No. 11), and Peyton Stearns of the United States (No. 42). This was the eighth WTA final she has competed in and her second at a 1000-level event. She will also be vying for the doubles title in Rome tomorrow with her partner Sara Errani of Italy.
In the other half of the main draw, Gauff defeated qualifier Victoria Mboko of Canada (No. 156), 32nd seed Magda Linette of Poland (No. 32), Emma Raducanu of the United Kingdom (No. 49), seventh seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia (No. 7), and eighth seed Zheng Qinwen of China (No. 8). This was the 12th WTA final she has contested and her fourth at a 1000-level event. Despite today’s loss, she became the seventh and youngest player to reach the Madrid and Rome finals in the same year.
The revised rankings for the 2025 WTA Tour will be officially released on Monday, May 19. The tour will then play two tournaments from May 18-24: the Internationaux de Strasbourg in Strasbourg, France (a WTA 500 event) and the Morocco Open in Rabat, Morocco (a WTA 250 event). Both competitions will be played on clay courts.
Madison Keys of the United States (No. 6) is the reigning champion at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. She will not be attempting a title defense this year. Meanwhile, Stearns is the reigning champion at the Morocco Open. She withdrew from the main draw after her semi-finals run in Rome.
And finally, Gauff and Paolini will both be taking the week off in preparation for the 2025 French Open - the year’s second Grand Slam event.