Jannik Sinner and Jasmine Paolini lead Italian tennis surge that shows no signs of slowing down

An Italian invasion has taken Roland Garros by storm.

Jannik Sinner and Jasmine Paolini have both gone deep in the singles draws at the French Open , the first time the nation has had men’s and women’s singles semi-finalists at the same major.

With doubles success in Paris and plenty of talent present on the ATP and WTA, the nation is building on some memorable triumphs in recent times.

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21st-century success

The recent surge has not come out of nowhere, with a steady and hugely successful building process across the past two-and-a-half decades.

This has particularly been the case in the women’s game, with the nation having its first two female Grand Slam champions in the past 15 years.

Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Slam with her memorable Roland Garros win in 2010, also reaching the final in 2011 and reaching a career-high of world No 4.

Five years later, Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci contested a famous all-Italian US Open final, after upsetting Simona Halep and Serena Williams respectively.

Pennetta prevailed in straight sets and then retired at the end of that season, though both women became top-10 singles players.

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Both were doubles Grand Slam winners and world No 1 players in that discipline, with Vinci forging a successful partnership with Sara Errani.

She and Errani – who is playing doubles with Paolini this year – won five majors together, completing the Career Grand Slam; Errani is also a former world No 5 and French Open finalist.

Men’s action was led by Fabio Fognini, a former world No 9 who won the Monte Carlo Masters in 2019, though Andreas Seppi also made his mark.

Recent boom

Italian tennis has certainly built on the successes of the past generation.

This is no more noticeable than it is with Sinner, who will become Italy’s first world No 1 singles player next Monday.

Recently he has anchored Italy to Davis Cup victory and claimed his first Slam at the Australian Open , becoming the first Italian man since Adriano Pannatta in 1976 to win a major.

Elsewhere, Matteo Berrettini has been as high as sixth in the world and is the only Italian, male or female, to reach the Wimbledon final – doing so in 2021.

Lorenzo Sonego has also been an ATP stalwart for numerous years now, while Lorenzo Musetti has the potential to beat his former career-high ranking of 15th.

And Simone Bolleli – who won the 2015 Australian Open men’s doubles with Fognini – is back in this year’s Roland Garros final alongside Andrea Vavassori.

Billie Jean King Cup runners-up last season, there is also plenty of strength in the women’s game.

Paolini is the current star, winning the WTA 1000 event in Dubai and guaranteed a top-10 debut after Roland Garros – and looks on course to potentially qualify for the WTA Finals.

Martina Trevisan was a semi-finalist at the French Open two years ago, while Elisabetta Cocciaretto’s run to the fourth round in Paris suggests more could come from here.

Homebred results

This success is particularly special because it is largely homegrown.

Tennis supercoach Darren Cahill has helped turn Sinner into a dominant force, but the influence of long-term coach Simone Vagnozzi has been key.

Guided by Riccardo Piatti as a junior, Sinner turned to former pro Vagnozzi in 2022 and his consistent improvement since then has been remarkable.

The importance of Piatti and Vagnozzi in Sinner’s career cannot be underestimated; without either of them, we probably wouldn’t see the player we do today.

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Paolini, meanwhile, is coached by Renzo Furlan – another former player who knows a thing or two about leading someone to major glory.

The 54-year-old was Schiavone’s coach at Roland Garros in 2010, masterminding one of the most surprising Grand Slam wins of recent times, and is now spearheading Paolini’s surprise surge.

Paolini and Sinner are front and centre of this homegrown Italian surge – that shows no signs of slowing down.

Sinner will be one of the youngest world No 1’s in history and has a game that can suit all surfaces, while Paolini is still improving aged 28.

This is a sustained growth that will likely extend across the tennis world for a while yet.