The latest years for Italian tennis have been quite noisy and Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have never been absent from the limelight. The Italians, apart from spectacular singles careers, have been one of the most successful doubles teams of the decade. The five-time Grand Slam champions broke up last year, but the Summer Olympics offered us a chance to see them once again in action together, as they will be representing Italy in the women's doubles competition.
Errani and Vinci, a power from the past
After the Italians split ways last year, the women's doubles field has changed a lot. Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza with the French duo of Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia and the Chan sisters have been the new pairs in the elite of the doubles rankings. In the same time, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina with Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, rivals of the Italian pair, are still competitive.
However, Errani and Vinci are not new in the house. They have plenty of experience, especially in big tournaments. They have won together five Grand Slam titles, having accomplished the career Grand Slam, and they were world number ones for quite a long time. So, despite their absence on the tour for a year and their ranking drop, the Italians are not the casual underdogs and are worthy of a good look in the Olympic event. They are playing the Rogers Cup together as a warm-up event before the Olympics.
The Olympic gold, though, and in general the Olympic medal, is something that is missing from their vast collection of trophies. In their only Olympics together, the pair lost in the quarterfinals to the Williams sisters in London as the number two seeds. Four years later, coming with a completely different attitude, they will be chasing the precious medal.
How they enter the competition
As aforementioned, Errani and Vinci have to play doubles together since the 2015 Fed Cup tie of Italy against France. So, they are not expected to be fresh together by any means. Also, their ranking has dropped and they will be bound to meet some of the top doubles teams early. The field has changed the past year, and for the Italians to be successful in the Olympics it is of paramount importance that they bring the tennis that led them to the top of the world.