Australian Open, it’s (late night) Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori’s turn

When it’s 4:30 a.m. Friday it will finally be their turn to make Italians dream, too, especially those who will have woken up to watch them play. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori lead the mixed doubles seedings at the Australian Open, underway on the concrete courts at Melbourne Park. The draw was not favorable to the Italian pair, who in the first round will face Germany’s Laura Siegemund and France’s Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who can also boast success at Roland Garros 2024 in their careers. An initial pairing that is anything but easy for the two blues.

Siegemund and Roger-Vasselin are both highly experienced doubles players, as evidenced by their palmarès: the 37-year-old from Filderstadt won the 2016 US Open in mixed doubles with Mate Pavic, as well as the women’s doubles title at the 2020 US Open with Vera Zvonareva; the 42-year-old from Gennevilliers, on the other hand, boasts a Slam triumph in men’s doubles, achieved at Roland Garros 2014 together with Julien Benneteau. The path could become even more complicated in the second round, where the Italians are likely to cross paths with defending champions, Australians Olivia Gadecki and John Peers, who have been admitted to the draw thanks to a wild card.

Errani and Vavassori, however, can count on a first-class resume: together they have already won three Slam titles in mixed doubles – US Open 2024 and 2025 and Roland Garros 2025. In doubles, the 38-year-old from Massa Lombarda has also collected six majors in the women’s, five with Roberta Vinci and the last one at Roland Garros 2025 with Jasmine Paolini; the 30-year-old from Turin, on the other hand, has reached three Slam finals in the men’s doubles paired with Simone Bolelli.

In the previous edition of the Melbourne tournament, Errani and Vavassori were stopped in the round of 16, defeated by Britons Olivia Nicholls and Henry Patten in just two sets: 6-3, 6-4.