The Italian duo beat Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse 1-6 6-4 6-1 on Friday to book their place in the women's doubles final, where they will face Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova.
Paolini has been partners with compatriot and five-time grand slam doubles champion Errani since the start of 2024, and the pair have quickly created a special partnership, having triumphed at the Linz Open and the Italian Open.
The world number 15 will play in her first grand slam singles final one day before her doubles fixture but faces a sizeable task in stopping Swiatek from claiming a third straight title in Paris.
However, she has the backing of her doubles partner, with Errani hoping the 28-year-old can enjoy the occasion this weekend.
"It's a special moment. Of course, being in a slam final is amazing. For sure, I will speak with Jasmine. If I can help a little bit, for me it would be amazing. I don't really know what to say," Errani said.
"I hope she enjoys it. I hope she believes. I believe in her. It's a really tough match, but I think she's an amazing player."
It proved to be a difficult opening set for the Italian pairing, but they were able to recover from that slow start.
"Today was a really tough match," Paolini said. "The first set, I mean, we didn't see any ball. They were just passing, and we were there and trying to fight.
"Then we said, okay, this cannot go worse. We managed to come back. It was a really tough match, but we are happy to be in the final."
A visibly upset Bertens left the court in a wheelchair after suffering with cramps in a three-hour, 11-minute tussle with Errani that the Dutchwoman won 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 9-7.
However, Errani, who failed to serve out the match on three different occasions, claimed her opponent was merely putting on an act.
"I don't like when somebody is joking on you," Errani told reporters.
"She played an amazing match, but I don't like the situation.
"One hour she has an injury, then she runs. I don't like that. She goes out of the court on the chair, and now she's in the locker perfect, in the restaurant. I don't like these things."
World number eight Bertens, who faces Katerina Siniakova next, shrugged off the criticism, though.
"She can say whatever she feels like. Maybe I should take some more acting classes or should pursue a career in that," Bertens said.
"I'm not sure what she's thinking, but, no, I didn't feel really good on court, to be honest."
AZARENKA EXITS
On the same day that Serena Williams pulled out of the tournament due to an Achilles injury, Victoria Azarenka – who beat the American in the US Open semi-finals – also bowed out with a 6-2 6-2 loss to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
None of the four women who made the final four in New York are still in the tournament in France, with champion Naomi Osaka having withdrawn before it started and Jennifer Brady eliminated in the first round.
However, Azarenka did not blame the quick turnaround and change of surface for her loss.
"Today was not the case of a turnaround, was not the case of the court, was not the case of anything else," she said.
"This is a lesson for me to learn. I don't think about what happened in New York."
HALEP OVERCOMES COMPATRIOT
Top seed Simona Halep beat fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3 6-4 to seal her passage to the third round.
"It's never easy to play against a Romanian and against Irina, we played so many times; it's never easy," Halep admitted.
"I managed well in the end and I think I played the right game when I needed to."
GAUFF'S RACE IS RUN
Despite beating ninth seed Johanna Konta in the first round, 16-year-old Coco Gauff fell at the next hurdle.
The American went a set up against Italian Martina Trevisan only to lose 4-6 6-2 7-5.
Meanwhile, seeds Elina Svitolina, Elise Mertens and Amanda Anisimova all progressed.
The top seed donned the yellow and blue colours of her homeland for Tuesday's match and eased to a 6-2 6-1 victory in a little over an hour in Mexico.
Svitolina only agreed to play her opener after tennis authorities announced a ban on Russian and Belarussian players competing under the name and flags of their countries.
And as Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its sixth day, the 27-year-old produced an impressive performance that saw her win 73.5 per cent of her first-serve points.
Former world number three Svitolina, who will now face Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova, had previously announced she will donate her prize money to the Ukrainian army.
"It's a special one because of what we are going through right now in Ukraine, it's terrifying," Svitolina told reporters.
"It's been six days and all the Ukrainian tennis players and Ukrainians who are there, we have been really terrified with what is happening.
"For me, playing the match here, I'm not playing only for myself. I'm playing for my country, I'm playing for the help of the Ukrainian army and people in need.
"I was focused. I was on a mission for my country. From the beginning, it was important to be ready for anything that comes my way."
Petra Martic is also through to round two after recovering from behind to beat third seed Madison Keys 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
Marie Bouzkova awaits following the world number 81's 4-6 6-2 6-4 win against Sara Errani. Number eight seed Ann Li's participation in the tournament came to an end with a 6-2 6-1 loss to Wang Xinyu, who will now face Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia.
In a contest between two teenage stars, it was 17-year-old Gauff who sealed her second semi-final spot in as many weeks, having made the last four at the Internazionali d'Italia.
Third seed Gauff will face Katerina Siniakova next, after the Czech followed up her win over Serena Williams with a 7-5 6-1 defeat of Caroline Garcia.
"I was pretty satisfied with the way I played," Gauff said, after fending off Anisimova.
"I do think I could have served a little bit better, but other than that, I was pretty happy with the way I played."
Despite her valid concerns, Gauff won 72 per cent of points after landing her first serve and forced six breaks to win in style, reeling off six games on the trot from 3-0 behind in the second set.
The other semi-final will see second seed Wang Qiang take on Sloane Stephens.
Wang prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-5 against Petra Martic, while Stephens saw off Sara Errani 6-3 6-0.
It was another rain-affected day at the Serbia Open, where Maria Camila Osorio Serrano managed to get past Kamilla Rakhimova 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Anna Kalinskaya and Reka Luca Jani were locked at one set apiece in the only other match to get started before the weather halted play.
Gauff recorded five breaks of serve as she overcame Italian Camila Giorgi in routine fashion, a 6-2 6-3 triumph securing the third seed a place in the quarter-finals.
The American did have a few issues on her own serve, leading to seven double faults, but ended up winning in one hour and 11 minutes.
Martic, the second seed at the event, was made to work in the first set of her match against Ludmilla Samsonova, both players saving a break point on serve as it went the distance.
There was little to split the pair in the tie-breaker too, Martic edging it 7-5 as she capitalised on her first opportunity to take the set.
The second was more straightforward for the Croatian, an early beak of serve putting her in front before she repeated the trick to wrap up victory in the ninth game.
There were wins in straight sets for fellow seeds Caroline Garcia and Wang Qiang too, as they defeated Anna-Lena Friedsam and Martina Di Giuseppe respectively.
For Garcia, the triumph means a first quarter-final appearance in the 2021 season.
Sorribes Tormo was the only seeded player to exit in the day’s action, the Spaniard forced to retire at 2-2 in the deciding set against Sara Errani due to a problem with her left thigh.
"I'm very sorry for Sara. It was a battle, I know every time we play together it is like this. I was mentally ready to fight, to suffer," Errani said in her on-court interview.
Top seed Serena Williams is already out, beaten in straight sets by Katerina Siniakova to deal the 23-time grand slam champion a further blow ahead of this year's French Open.
Having lost the doubles final at the French Open in June, Paolini and Errani dug deep to win 2-6 6-1 10-7 on Court Philippe-Chatrier in one hour and 25 minutes to earn Italy's first Games gold medal in tennis.
Russia-born pair Andreeva and Shnaider – competing for the Individual Neutral Athletes – made a perfect start, with a three-game winning run in the first half putting them out of the Italians' reach.
Paolini and Errani successfully defended two break points to make it 4-2 and end that run, but they lost their serve to love in the final game to fall behind.
However, the Italian pair rallied brilliantly in the second set, earning a break in the first game to set the tone.
Andreeva and Shnaider managed to claw a game back to make it 2-1, but their opponents quickly shut down any hopes of a comeback.
The Italians won each of the next four games, holding their nerve at the end to get a third break of the set and force a tie-break.
Paolini and Errani remained in control for the decider, earning two more breaks as they stormed to a historic gold medal.
Data Debrief: Italians get the job done with historic gold
After coming agonisingly close at the French Open two months ago, Paolini and Errani finally got their hands on a big win.
Not only was it the first-ever gold medal for Italy in any of the tennis events at the Olympics, but the first medal of any colour for Italian women.
Errani has also completed the career golden slam in women's doubles, having won all four major titles in the paired grand slam competitions between 2012 and 2014, alongside Roberta Vinci.
Gauff and Siniakova defeated Italian pair Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in the doubles showpiece on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
The triumph was Gauff's first in a doubles tournament at a grand slam, after she lost the 2021 US Open final alongside Caty McNally and the 2022 French Open showpiece alongside Jessica Pegula.
She only decided to play alongside Siniakova – who has now won eight major doubles titles – at the last minute after neck and back injuries forced Pegula to withdraw.
Speaking after claiming the title, Gauff said: "The third time's a charm. Thank you, Katerina, for playing with me. We decided two days before the tournament to play together.
"Thank you to the fans. I know 11:30 on a Sunday morning is early for most people. It's early for me."
Gauff and Siniakova only dropped one set in the tournament, against Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk in the semi-finals.
World number three Gauff was the only player not to lose serve in Sunday's final, which contained nine breaks in total.
It marked a second final defeat in as many days for Paolini, who was beaten 6-2 6-1 by Iga Swiatek in Saturday's singles final as the world number one clinched a third straight crown at Roland Garros.
The Italian's tournament may not have ended with silverware, but she will look back on it fondly, saying: "The last two weeks were very nice, very emotional.
"I have a lot of great memories. I can't wait to be back."
Williams made an early exit at the Australian Open and the American veteran went down to Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 in Acapulco on Tuesday.
The 39-year-old wasted seven match points during the second set before bowing out after two hours, 38 minutes.
Williams, a two-time champion of the event, also served 13 double faults as she lost a fourth straight match – a run dating back to last year.
It was a tough day for the seeds at the WTA International event, where Williams was joined by Stephens and Lauren Davis in losing.
Stephens, the top seed and 2016 champion, suffered her fourth straight loss to begin 2020, going down to Mexican wildcard Renata Zarazua 6-4 6-2.
The fourth seed, Davis was edged by fellow American Christina McHale 6-2 1-6 6-4.
The only seed to advance was Zhu Lin, while there were also wins for Sara Errani, Katie Boulter, Katie Volynets, Leylah Fernandez and Caroline Dolehide.
Vekic made up for lost time on Monday following a coronavirus-enforced hiatus, thrashing Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-2 two days after qualifying in Sicily marked the official return of professional tennis.
There was only a small number of people to witness the action, players handling their own towels, no handshakes as well as a smaller team of ball kids and line officials, but Vekic clearly had no problem adapting.
The sixth seed from Croatia said in a post-match video call: "I'm definitely a little bit surprised [at the margin of her victory].
"It was very tricky conditions, it was very windy so the ball was a little bit all over the court. I'm just definitely happy that I didn't forget how to play tennis, how to play matches, how to win. It's a huge relief."
Sara Errani, Laura Siegemund, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elisabetta Cocciaretto also made it through to the second round.
It would have been a relief for organisers to see the action get under way just a couple of days after an unnamed player tested positive for COVID-19.
Wimbledon champion Simona Halep was among a host of players to withdraw from the first tournament since March due to concerns over coronavirus.
