Paolini Withdraws From Doubles: Errani To Partner Tagger In Paris

Jasmine Paolini will not defend her doubles title at Roland Garros 2026. A foot issue, the same one that forced her to withdraw from the doubles in Rome, has convinced the Italian to focus solely on the singles draw. Sara Errani will still play the draw, but with a new partner: Austria's Lilli Tagger, eighteen years old, a student of Francesca Schiavone and the 2025 Roland Garros junior champion.

The Errani-Paolini pair had arrived in Paris as defending champions and with the 2024 Olympic gold still fresh in memory. The withdrawal interrupts a string of results that had made them one of the best teams on the circuit. Errani, who ended her singles career at Roland Garros 2025 after a qualifying loss to Anna-Lena Friedsam, continues her transition to a double role: player on court and, since the start of this season, tactical coach to Paolini alongside Danilo Pizzorno.

The choice of Tagger as a partner says more than a simple change of pairing. The young Austrian, who hails from Tyrol close to the South Tyrolean border and shares the same agent as Sinner, grew up under Schiavone's guidance, Errani's longtime doubles companion. The passing of the torch, in this pairing, has something familial about it.

For Paolini, it is the first time a singles calculation has led her to give up one of her most important titles. The foot is not yet an alarm, but the message is clear: at 30, with a ranking that needs defending week after week, energy has to be chosen carefully.