In the end they made history: Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini hit the mark against the Russians Andreeva and Shnaider, for the first time, an Olympic gold medalist with racket in hand. No one had ever succeeded before them. He won the first medal – bronze – a hundred years ago Umberto de Morpurgo, right on the Parisian fields. Lorenzo Musetti matched this performance, beating Felix Auger Aliassime. Today, however, Errani and Paolini, taking home the most precious metal, have surpassed every performance ever in this sport, in the Olympic context.
The adventure began with the victory against the New Zealanders Erin Routliffe and Lulu Sun, then the super tie-break against the French Caroline Garcia and Diane Perry, then in the quarterfinals 6-3 6-1 against the British Katie Boulter and Heather Watson, and in the semi-final 6-3 6-2 against the Czechs Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova.
The rivals were one new Russian couple very young people who competed in this Olympics without a flag. Mirra Andreeva she was a semi-finalist at this year's Roland Garros while Diana Shnaider she joined Andreeva only for the Games. The former didn't have much experience as a couple while the latter had already won a junior doubles Wimbledon.
Jasmine Paolini has already reached the finals in two Slams this year, at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Her best ranking is fifth in singles and thirteenth in doubles. Sara Errani might have closed beautifully her career, even though many believe they can still see her on the fields that matter, despite her age. Together they had tried to ease the tension before the final by going on a night bike ride in Paris. Certainly, the walk did not make them lose focus on the ambitious goal of both.
