Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani out at tie-break amid regrets in Stuttgart
After hitting the quarterfinals in the singles draw, Jasmine Paolini failed to repeat in the doubles paired with Sara Errani in Stuttgart. The two Azzurri, in fact,were eliminated in the opener by Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova and China’s Zhang Shuai with the score of 6-2 2-6 10-8, after one’hour and fifteen minutes of play.
The Italian pair struggled from the opening bars, as evidenced by the three break points cancelled by Paolini in the opening game. In the fourth game, however, Errani fails to respond and Alexandrova and Shuai find the break at zero. After confirming the lead, the Russian and Chinese continued to push, breaking serve again in the eighth game, which gave them the first set 6-2 and the chance to serve first in the second.
In the second set, it was Errani and Paolini who got off to a rocket start, immediately flying away 3-1. The rivals, for their part, try a minimal comeback, but the two blues, thanks to another three-games-to-one split, make the second set theirs, taking the match to the super tie-break.
The second set was a great success.
The tie-break starts in the best of ways for the Italian pair, which wins six of the first eight points. Alexandrova and Shuai try to get back into the match, but the Azzurri are adept at the change of court leading 8-4. At that point, however, the two winners of the’gold l’Olympic gold in Paris 2024 walked off the court completely, with the Russian and Chinese winning the match with a 6-0 split.
