Only several people could have predicted what would happen after Jasmine Paolini won the Dubai championship earlier this year.
Throughout this season, the Italian, who started 2023 outside of the top 60 rankings and started 2024 at number 30, has achieved some firsts, making history for her nation and offering one of the most inspiring tales of the women’s tour.
Paolini made it to the fourth round of a major for the first time in January. A few weeks later, at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai, she won the trophy of her career.
She made it to the Grand Slam finals by June, finishing second at the French Open, and becoming the first Italian woman to ever reach the Wimbledon final in July.
Soon after, Paolini won the gold medal in doubles at the Paris Olympics with her countrymate Sara Errani. This month, at the US Open, she advanced to the round of 16 and made history by being the only Italian woman in the Open Era to have advanced to the second week of every Grand Slam in one season.
She recently talked about her approach and said: “My mentality is a little bit different now. Before, I was a little bit afraid to make the first round, and now I’m coming to the tournament thinking I can make the first round with no problem. But I’m going to fight to do more. It’s a bit of a different mindset. Before, I was really afraid to lose in the first round another time. Now if it comes, it comes—it can happen. But great things can happen also.”
Paolini is paving the way for women in Italy, a country that experienced a bit of a downturn following the legendary quartet of Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci, and Errani, who is currently the only member of that group still active in the world.
Jasmine Paolini in 2024
Ranked world no.5 (career-high), Jasmine played her last match on the 2nd of September when she capitulated to world no.49 Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-3 in the 4th round of the U.S. Open (draw).
This year Jasmine achieved a composed 36-16 record. Paolini has won 1 title in Dubai. The Italian reached the final at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Jasmine Paolini will face the world no.91 Oceane Dodin in the . Their actual record is 1-0 for Paolini.
Jasmine clinched 1 title in 2024 in Dubai. Paolini got to the final at the French Open and in Wimbledon.
Jasmine Paolini |
| Embed from Getty Images |