Paolini adds Errani to coaching staff ahead of 2026, will oversee tactics

World No. 8 Jasmine Paolini has added a very familiar face to her team ahead of the 2026 WTA season.

Paolini confirmed that doubles partner and fellow Italian Sara Errani will officially join her coaching staff in 2026, she confirmed in a joint appearance with Errani on Italian talk-show Che Tempo Che Fa hosted by Fabio Fazio. Errani will be tasked with the tactical aspects of Paolini’s game.

"I’ll have two people this year (in 2026). Danilo Pizzorno will be my coach, and (Errani) will take care of the tactics, because she’s on another level," Paolini said in Italian.

There’s already much camaraderie between Paolini and Errani, who is a nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion. Errani has often been seen in Paolini’s coaching box at several of her singles matches.

Furthermore, the Italians have created one of the most dynamic doubles teams in tennis over the past two seasons. In 2024, the pair won WTA 1000 doubles titles in Rome and Beijing, but the pinnacle of the year was taking home the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

This past season, Paolini and Errani won their first Grand Slam together at Roland Garros in June and defended their WTA 1000 trophies in Rome and Beijing while picking up another in Doha. They’ve qualified for the WTA Finals Riyadh for the past two years.

In singles, Paolini lifted the trophy at her country’s premier event, becoming the first Italian since Raffaella Reggi to win the Internazionali BNL d’Italia since 1985. It was her lone title of the 2025 season, and she also reached the final in Cincinnati and the semifinals in Miami, Stuttgart, Bad Homburg, Wuhan and Ningbo.

Paolini’s decision to solidify Pizzorno and Errani to her staff for next year came after a 2025 season that saw multiple coaching changes and early exits at Grand Slams -- her best singles finish this season at a Slam was the Round of 16 at Roland Garros.

In late March, The Italian No. 1 parted ways with 2024 WTA Coach of the Year Renzo Furlan after a decade-long partnership. Then, after a second-round loss at Wimbledon, she moved on from Marc Lopez in July, who she only hired three months prior.

After adding Italian tennis player Federico Gaio as an interim coach for the Hard-Court swing, she joined forces with Pizzorno in September ahead of the Asian swing and WTA Finals. Through all the change, Errani has often been the one constant.

Errani, 38, concluded her singles career after Roland Garros, but she will still compete alongside her compatriot in doubles and will be a player-coach. Both are part of Italy’s United Cup team set to compete in the Perth group stage in January, with the Australian Open to follow later in the month.

"We're doing so well that it's hard to stop," Errani said in Italian. "I said I'd sign off if I won a medal at the Olympics, but we're doing so well that it's hard to stop."