Jasmine Paolini: Italian history-maker aims to continue inspirational journey after record season

When Jasmine Paolini stormed to the Dubai title earlier this year, few could have predicted what was to come next.

The Italian, who was ranked outside the top 60 at the start of 2023 and began 2024 at 30 in the world, has hit one milestone after another over the course of this season, providing one of the most feel-good stories of the women’s tour, while making history for her country in the process.

Prior to this season, Paolini had never made it past the second round of a Grand Slam, and her sole previous title triumph had come at the WTA-250 level in a tournament in Slovenia.

Both those facts changed in the first two months of this campaign. In January, Paolini reached the fourth round at a major for the first time; a few weeks later, she clinched the biggest trophy of her career at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai.

By June, she had become a Grand Slam finalist, placing runner-up at the French Open, and in July, she became the first Italian woman in history to make the final at Wimbledon.

Shortly after, Paolini secured the gold medal in doubles, alongside her compatriot Sara Errani, at the Paris Olympics, and this month, she reached the last-16 stage at the US Open to become the only Italian woman in the Open Era to have reached the second week of each Grand Slam in a single season.

“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 first round no problem. But I’m going to fight to do more. It’s a bit of a different mindset,” Paolini told The National.

“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.”

That shift in mindset means Paolini is tied with Aryna Sabalenka for most wins captured at the majors in 2024, with 18 victories each.

Currently No 5 in the world rankings, Paolini, 28, enters this final stretch of the season chasing qualification for the top-eight WTA Finals in both singles and doubles. She stands at No 4 in the singles Race to the WTA Finals in Riyadh, and is No 5 alongside Errani in doubles.

Blessed with an infectious positive energy, one comes to understand why Paolini’s dizzying success is admired and celebrated by her peers and fans alike.

“I'm a fan of hers. She did an incredible job playing finals on clay at Roland Garros and then grass in Wimbledon. It's just pretty inspiring. She's a very nice girl, so, yeah, I was supporting,” said former French Open finalist Karolina Muchova, who was sidelined with an injury during this year’s clay grand slam and found herself rooting for the Italian.

Paolini joined rarified air with her accomplishments over the summer, as she emulated Steffi Graf, Justine Henin, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams as the only women this century to reach the singles final at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year.

US Open finalist Jessica Pegula is not surprised by Paolini’s rise, noting how she always felt the Italian had the quality to contend at the majors. But as a late-bloomer herself, Pegula is happy to see Paolini make strides at a relatively advanced stage of her career.

“Obviously two slam finals is crazy and having the most slam wins this year is a crazy stat,” said Pegula.

“I love seeing players do well later on in their career. I think it's a nice story because we get so attached to all the young stories of everyone being so young, and it's if you don't do well right away, then all of a sudden you become like a journeywoman and you become the one that it never really worked out for, and all this kind of negative stuff. So I like to see those stories turn out.”

At just 1.63 metres tall, Paolini may not have as big a serve as some of her taller opponents, but she has greatly improved that shot by upping her accuracy. She started working last year with a fitness trainer from the Italian Tennis Federation, Andrea Bracaglia, who helped her become an even better mover on court. Despite her size, Paolini hits a huge ball, unleashing punishing groundstrokes off both wings.

Since she started playing doubles with Errani, 37, last year, she has made great progress in her net game, too. The added benefit of spending quality time with a 22-year veteran of the tour, a former top-five player herself, Grand Slam finalist in singles, and the holder of a career Grand Slam in doubles, is paying dividends.

“I think I started to play better at the end of last year and I think doubles helped me a lot,” said Paolini.

“Talking with her everyday helped me a lot. She did amazing things, had an amazing career and she is very smart on court. So I could ask for any advice on court, speaking also to her, training with her, helped me understand the game more and to understand more what’s happening in the court.

“I would say the tactical part of the game, that’s the most I’m trying to learn from her. She loves tennis more than anyone else on the tour I think; she really loves this game. So tactically is where she helped me the most.”

It was only fitting that the dynamic duo paired up to bring home gold for Italy at the Olympics.

“For a country, the gold medal is something so big. Maybe it was even bigger than the finals in the Grand Slams, because also people who are not tennis fans from Italy they were going crazy for this gold medal,” reflected Paolini. “It was an unbelievable atmosphere and it’s really great for our sport, especially in Italy.”

Italian tennis is certainly exploding at the moment, with Jannik Sinner holding the No 1 spot on the men’s side, and the likes of Lorenzo Musetti and Matteo Berrettini among seven Italians ranked inside the world’s top 50.

Paolini is leading the way for Italy women, which witnessed a bit of a lull after the golden generation of Francesca Schiavone, Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci, and Errani, who is the last one standing on tour from that history-making quartet.

“I think they played unbelievable tennis, the four of them – Sara, Roberta, Francesca, and Flavia – they did unbelievable things, winning Grand Slams, making finals, winning Fed Cups. They were a huge inspiration,” said Paolini.

“It’s great to be, maybe, in the same position and to inspire new kids, especially in Italy. It’s great also to have a female example because we have for sure male examples like Sinner, Musetti and many others. So I hope to inspire a lot of kids and to give them a positive example.”

Paolini often speaks of her ambition to carve her own path, and write her own story, rather than try to replicate the success of her predecessors. She hopes her legacy will be more about her attitude and demeanour, than about her forehands and backhands.

“I hope people enjoy watching me play, they think that I’m a good person, I’m a positive example. I guess they want me to smile and I try to do it, that’s myself, I smile a lot. I really like that my smile arrives to the people,” said Paolini.

“I think I get it from my mum, who as well is smiling a lot. I think I got it from my parents, to understand that I’m in a lucky position and there’s nothing to complain about. Just to try to always see the glass half full and not half empty.”

Errani is perhaps best-positioned to analyse the progress made by Paolini this year, and the Bologna native believes her doubles partner’s consistency on the court has made all the difference.

“Before she was hitting really hard but making more mistakes, didn’t really believe in herself 100 per cent,” Errani told The National on the sidelines of the US Open.

“I think she is very intelligent now, she knows what to do every match, how to manage, and she is so confident right now. But she kept that, it’s not easy to keep the confidence, to keep your game. Normally you can have ups and downs, but she’s still there, because she wants to be there, she wants to improve, she wants to know everything.”

None of that, though, is what has stuck with Errani the most from her time with Paolini.

“She has an incredible energy, I think. She makes me laugh a lot, she’s a really funny person with a lot of energy that makes the people around her happy, which is the best thing that she has,” said Errani.

Paolini is in the hunt for WTA Finals qualification spots, which she can lock down with good runs in Beijing this fortnight, or Wuhan the following week. Over fear of jinxing it, she preferred not to discuss the prospect of making it to the prestigious season finale in Riyadh and is instead focusing on improving and building on what has already been the most successful season of her career.

WTA Finals tournament director Garbine Muguruza, who won the tournament in 2021 and announced her retirement from tennis in May this year, considers Paolini to be one of the biggest surprises of 2024, and expects even better things from her in the future.

“I love Paolini, love her personality, always smiling, always natural. She speaks funny, brings good energy around the tour. I was super happy to see her, she’s playing amazingly,” Muguruza told The National.

“She has such power, she’s not a big girl but she creates such strength on the court on her shots and I’m just heartbroken a little bit for her – she lost two grand slam finals in one year. But she’ll get there. I think she’s playing great and she’ll have her opportunity if she plays like this, sooner or later, it’s just about timing and patience.”

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