longtime doubles partner, Vinci of Palermo, nearly won the Australian Open doubles title, losing in three sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva of Russia.

Then she and Vinci won five doubles titles around the world, at Monterrey and Acapulco, Mexico; Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Last month, they won the Italian Open doubles title at Rome.

Three factors seem to have turned around Errani’s performances.

First, she switched to a longer racket, longer by one inch, giving her better reach and more power.

“I either got a longer arm or a longer racket,” Errani said.

Errani paid more than $30,000 to buy out her contract with one racket company to change to another, according to Ubaldo Scanagatta, a veteran Italian sports journalist who operates Ubitennis.com.

It “was a big change that make me feelmuch better in the court,” said Errani, who stands 5 feet 5 inches tall. “Make me feel with more power and not too difference with other players on power and these things.”

A second factor was learning to relax before matches. Where once she found it nearly impossible to sleep through the night before a big match, now she sleeps longer, although still fitfully, Scanagatta said.

Third, she hired her brother, a former top soccer player, as her personal manager, increasing her level of comfort in the business side of her career, Scanagatta said.

Her success in doubles has been eclipsed by Errani’s remarkable surge as a singles player. Previously she rarely ranked higher than the top 40. She began the year ranked 45th.

This year she has won singles titles in