Turin, 15 Nov. (LaPresse) – “The final will be incredibly tough, but we must believe in ourselves.” Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, the first Italian pair to reach the final of the WTA Finals, continue to make history for Italian tennis. In the semi-final, they defeated China’s Guo Hanyu and France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-4, coming back from 1-4 down in the second set. “From that moment on, we were more aggressive; we started to hit the ball harder. We needed a bit more energy to pull it off. From then on, we did just that and it worked. So we’re really happy,” explained Paolini in her post-match interview. Today, the Italian pair will contest the title against Katerina Siniakova – the world number one in doubles at the end of the season for the sixth time in her career – and Taylor Townsend, whom they had already beaten in a comeback victory during the round-robin stage. “It’ll be a really tough match tomorrow, even though we’ve already beaten them in the group stage. We have to believe in ourselves,” emphasised Errani. The final is scheduled to take place after the singles title match, which begins at 9.00 pm. Both matches will be broadcast live and free-to-air on SuperTennis. “They’re extraordinary players, you know, they play fantastic doubles. They’ve practically won everything. So we’ll have to be on our game and focused on every single point, believe in ourselves and in our ability to succeed too,” added Paolini. This final comes after an excellent end to the season in Asia, where they reached the quarter-finals in Beijing and the semi-finals in Wuhan before winning their first title of the season in Tokyo. “We’ve played so many matches over the last month and a half, almost two months,” Errani emphasised. “Playing more matches helps build confidence, improves the standard of tennis and our game vision. It’s important; we’re really happy.”
WTA Finals, Errani-Paolini: ‘The final will be a real tough one, but we have to believe in ourselves’
Turin, 15 Nov. (LaPresse) – “The final will be incredibly tough, but we must believe in ourselves.” Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, the first Italian pair to reach the final of the WTA Finals, continue to make history for Italian tennis. In the semi-final, they defeated China’s Guo Hanyu and France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-3, 6-4, coming back from 1-4 down in the second set. “From that moment on, we were more aggressive; we started to hit the ball harder. We needed a bit more energy to pull it off. From then on, we did just that and it worked. So we’re really happy,” explained Paolini in her post-match interview. Today, the Italian pair will contest the title against Katerina Siniakova – the world number one in doubles at the end of the season for the sixth time in her career – and Taylor Townsend, whom they had already beaten in a comeback victory during the round-robin stage. “It’ll be a really tough match tomorrow, even though we’ve already beaten them in the group stage. We have to believe in ourselves,” emphasised Errani. The final is scheduled to take place after the singles title match, which begins at 9.00 pm. Both matches will be broadcast live and free-to-air on SuperTennis. “They’re extraordinary players, you know, they play fantastic doubles. They’ve practically won everything. So we’ll have to be on our game and focused on every single point, believe in ourselves and in our ability to succeed too,” added Paolini. This final comes after an excellent end to the season in Asia, where they reached the quarter-finals in Beijing and the semi-finals in Wuhan before winning their first title of the season in Tokyo. “We’ve played so many matches over the last month and a half, almost two months,” Errani emphasised. “Playing more matches helps build confidence, improves the standard of tennis and our game vision. It’s important; we’re really happy.”