Jasmine Paolini and Jannik Sinner are making Italians worldwide proud with their recent French Open successes.
The 28-year-old Paolini booked a spot in the final with a quick 6-3, 6-1 victory over Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, while 22-year-old Sinner is set to face Carlos Alcaraz on Friday for his own spot in the final.
While Italian tennis has had moderate success over the decades, the consistency and emergence of Paolini and Sinner are taking the federation to new heights.
Seeing Italian success at the French Open is not utterly shocking, as many youngsters in the country train on the red clay all year long. The surfaces are so similar that one of the warmup tournaments for the Grand Slam is in Italy.
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Oftentimes, players who come from the same country have similar game styles and demeanors. Paolini and Sunner are no different with their patient yet aggressive patterns while staying calm, cool and collected. Furthermore, the two are known to be remarkably humble despite great recent success.
There's no doubt Paolini will have her hands full with No. 1 Iga Swaitek in the final after the Pole took out American Coco Gauff in the semifinals. Paolini is the last woman standing who can potentially deny Swiatek her fourth French Open crown -- a number that would put her ahead of Serena Williams' titles in Paris.
On the other hand, if Sinner gets past Spanish star Alcaraz, he will set up a clash against the winner of Alexander Zverev or Casper Ruud, two players who have also had much success on the clay.
Ahead of the showdowns, let's take a look at some Italian tennis history:
When was the last time an Italian won the French Open?
In 2010, Francesca Schiavone won the French Open to claim her third Grand Slam title.
It wasn't the first time an Italian had won the French Open, however. In 1976, Adriano Panatta became the first Italian man to win the French Open in the Open Era and the first man from the country to win a major singles title.
Before this remarkable feat, Nicola Pietrangeli won the French Open in 1959 and 1969 and is highly regarded to be one of Italy's greatest tennis champions.
When was the last time an Italian won a Grand Slam?
The last Italian Grand Slam singles champion was Jannik Sinner, who won the 2024 Australian Open. To win the title, he had to battle past No. 5 Andrey Rublev, No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Daniil Medvedev.
Before Sinner's big victory, the latest Italian to win a major championship was Francesca Schiavone in 2010 at the French Open.
Has an Italian tennis player ever been ranked No. 1 in the world?
Jannik Sinner is the first Italian -- male or female -- to be ranked No. 1 in the world.
Sinner earned this title after reaching the 2024 French Open quarterfinals in addition to Novak Djokovic's withdrawal due to a knee injury.
"What can I say? First of all, it is every player's dream to become No. 1 in the world," Sinner said after his Roland Garros quarterfinal win against Grigor Dimitrov, before addressing the elimination of Djokovic, which guaranteed his spot. "In the other way, seeing Novak retiring here I think is disappointing. I wish him a speedy recovery."
The highest-ranked Italian before Jannik was Adriano Panatta at No. 4.
On the women's side, Jasmine Paolini was ranked No. 12 in May 2024, but her ranking will surely skyrocket after the completion of the French Open.
