Errani and Paolini win Olympic gold in women's doubles

Errani, the former doubles world number one, became the seventh player to complete the career Golden Slam in women's doubles having won all four majors and the Olympic title.

She also became the oldest player to win an Olympic tennis gold, snatching the record that Novak Djokovic, one month her junior, had claimed two hours before by winning the men's singles final.

This marked Italy's inaugural gold medal in an Olympic tennis event, occurring just one day after fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti secured a bronze medal in men's singles by defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Errani and Paolini acknowledged the need to manage their nerves after a challenging first set.

"During the initial set, we had to gradually acclimate ourselves to the match," Errani informed the media.

"It was also a physically demanding experience. There was significant nervous tension and pressure," Errani continued, mentioning that she required physiotherapy for a muscle issue following the seventh game.

Nevertheless, the Italian duo swiftly established control in the match, improving their serving and striking deeper shots to claim the second set, ultimately prevailing in the super tiebreak.

"The second set represented a complete turnaround. We took the initiative from the start," Errani remarked. "From that point, Jasmine also became more relaxed, allowing us to apply greater pressure on Andreeva and Shnaider, and we discovered the right strategy.

"We also attempted more smashes. We did not play close to the net. We engaged in the match, embraced the competition, and I can confidently say that both Jasmine and I moved significantly better, which made a difference."

At 17, Andreeva became the second youngest athlete in history to earn a medal in Olympic tennis, following Jennifer Capriati, who won gold in singles in Barcelona 32 years ago at the age of 16 years and 132 days.

The Russian duo expressed satisfaction with their silver medal on their Olympic debut.

“We take pride in this achievement. While we believe we could have performed better, we are pleased with the outcome given it was our first experience,” Shnaider stated.