The last Italian woman to win the open was Raffaella Reggi in 1985 in Taranto. The last local man to raise the trophy was Adriano Panatta in 1976.

Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen were locked in a tightly contested battle that had seen the American edge out the first set in a tiebreak and Zheng claw back the second 6-4. However, it was in the early stages of the third set that the match had its most memorable moment- not through a blazing winner or a marathon rally, but through unfiltered humor.

Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian woman to win the Italian Open in 40 years when she beat American world number three Coco Gauff 6-4 6-2 in the final on Saturday.