NEW YORK: Italian Sara Errani said winning her maiden mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the US Open on Thursday had capped off an impressive season that exceeded even her wildest dreams.
The 37-year-old teamed up with compatriot Andrea Vavassori to defeat American pair Taylor Townsend and Donald Young in the final at Arthur Ashe stadium.
Errani, a five-time women's doubles Grand Slam champion, took home a gold medal alongside Jasmine Paolini at the Paris Olympics as well as winning the Italian Open this year. She and Paolini also reached the final of the French Open.
"No words. It is more than a dream. I never dreamed this, so it's much more. It's an unbelievable year," Errani told reporters. "(We won) in Rome, then we did the final in Paris. I play good also in singles. Now this mixed doubles. I have no words.
"I couldn't expect this. I'm enjoying a lot. Of course when you win, you enjoy a lot. When you lose, not too much. But you have to stay there, to keep going even in the tough moments, and I think that I did that also."
Errani's success has added to an already impressive season for Italian tennis, with Jannik Sinner winning the Australian Open, while Paolini finished runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon. "It's an incredible year for me, but also for Italy," Errani said.
"Jannik, Jasmine, Simone (Bolelli) and him (Vavassori) in doubles, me and Jasmine, so it's really good moment for Italy, I think. We are very happy to be in that moment."
The victory gave Errani and Vavassori their maiden Grand Slam mixed doubles title in only their third major tournament together after Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics.
"It's very special, it's a dream come true for me to accomplish this thing with Sara," Vavassori said. "She's an amazing person and player, I always watched her during her career. It was amazing to play with her in Wimbledon and the Olympics and here, we had fun."
Vavassori and Errani drew first blood and took a 6-5 lead as Townsend drilled a backhand long, but the Americans broke straight back to force a tiebreaker.
The third-seeded Italian duo blazed through the tiebreaker with ease, which appeared to fill them with confidence as they broke early in the second set to take a 3-1 lead.
Townsend and Young showed great spirit to break back and level at 4-4, but in similar fashion to the first set, their resistance was short-lived and the Italians broke in the final game to clinch victory.
Defeat marked the end of a long partnership for Townsend and Young, who have known each other since childhood and reached the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 2014, with 35-year-old Young set to retire from tennis and switch to pickleball.
"We were a step short, but this is a dream come true for me," Young said. "Taylor is like a little sister, I've grown up playing Monopoly, bullying her, having fun. To play next to her in the final of the US Open is great.
"Congrats to Sara and Andrea, it was awesome."
It was more disappointment at the US Open for Townsend, who also reached the semifinals of the women's doubles alongside Katerina Siniakova, where they lost to Zhang Shuai and Kristina Mladenovic. Townsend and her Czech partner won the women's doubles title at Wimbledon this year.
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