New Zealand’s Olympic tennis hopes ended when Erin Routliffe and Lulu Sun lost their first-round doubles match. They faced a tough Italian team, Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani, who defeated them 6-2, 6-3 in just 71 minutes.
Paolini recently reached the Wimbledon singles final, and Errani is a former world No. 1 doubles player. The Italians, seeded third, had also made the French Open doubles final last month. Despite Routliffe being the current No. 1 in the world for doubles, the New Zealand team couldn’t match the Italians’ skill and experience.
Routliffe and Sun played on the famous Centre Court at Roland Garros, following a match between tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. “We gave it everything,” Routliffe said. “But they are an established team and know what they’re doing on the crunch points.”
Even though the result wasn’t what they hoped for, the New Zealanders cherished the experience of competing on one of the world’s greatest tennis courts.
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