Jasmine Paolini became the first home winner of the Italian Open for 40 years with a dominant victory over Coco Gauff.
The 29-year-old, who reached the final of the French Open and Wimbledon last year in a breakthrough season, delighted the fans at the Foro Italico with a 6-4 6-2 success.
No Italian had won one of the two singles titles in Rome since Raffaella Reggi back in 1985 but Paolini thoroughly merited her triumph, while Jannik Sinner could make it a home double when he faces Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday.
Paolini came out firing and edged a tight first set before running away with the second amid a slew of Gauff errors.
By winning the title, Paolini guaranteed she will overtake Iga Swiatek to become world number four on Monday and therefore obtain a top-four seeding for the French Open, which begins next weekend.
Gauff has returned to form on the European clay after a difficult few months but has finished runner-up in both the major events, with this loss following one against Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid a fortnight ago.
Katie Boulter, meanwhile, reached the first clay-court final of her career at the Trophee Clarins in Paris.
Dropping down to WTA 125 level, the tier just below the main tour, has paid off for the British number one, who defeated France’s Varvara Gracheva 6-0 3-6 6-3 to set up a final clash with another home player, Chloe Paquet.
