Jasmine Paolini qualified for the first Grand Slam final of her career at Roland Garros.
IMAGO/justpictures.ch
It is no disrespect to Jasmine Paolini (28 years old) to write that she is a virtual unknown. Few people, apart from the most assiduous followers of the little yellow ball, had already heard of the Italian before the start of Roland-Garros. However, the Tuscany is the 15th best player in the world and even reached 12th in the WTA rankings on May 6.
This relative anonymity allowed her to advance quietly in the women’s table until qualifying for the final, her first in a Grand Slam. Here’s what you need to know about the one who will face Iga Swiatek, the double title holder, on Saturday (3 p.m.).
She had never made it past the second round at Roland-Garros
For Jasmine Paolini, the turning point came at the 2024 Australian Open where she made it past the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
IMAGO/NurPhoto
One statistic says a lot about how far Jasmine Paolini has come. She has won more matches in 2024 (6) on Parisian clay than since her first appearance in the main draw in 2019 (3). She had never done better than a second round at Porte d’Auteuil (2020, 2021 and 2023).
Generally speaking, the Italian had never shone in a Grand Slam before this fortnight. Her best result so far was a round of 16 at the Australian Open earlier this year.
She had to wait 23 years to enter the top 100
Jasmine Paolini took a while to enter the top 100.
imago images / Imaginechina
Looking at Jasmine Paolini’s career, nothing suggested such an accomplishment. At the junior level, the native of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana was by far not among the most talented of her generation, as evidenced by her modest 70th place as best ranking.
Arriving on the WTA circuit in 2017, the future finalist spent many years in the shadows before being in the spotlight. She only entered the top 100 at the end of 2019, when she was almost 24, before exploding in 2023 with a final in Palermo and a quarter-final in Cincinnati.
She will play two finals this weekend
In addition to a coronation in Portoroz (Slovenia) in 2021, the Italian was only crowned at the WTA 1000 in Dubai in 2024. It is an understatement to say that she would therefore win the most important title of her career if she were to triumph on Saturday.
Regardless of the result of this final, Jasmine Paolini will not play the last part of her Roland-Garros and will have to quickly recover from her emotions. She achieved the authentic feat of also qualifying for the women’s doubles final with her compatriot Sara Errani.
She is of Polish and Ghanaian origins.
Jasmine Paolini was born on January 4, 1996 to an Italian father and a mother of Ghanaian and Polish origin. “I feel Italian, I grew up in Italy. But I am proud to have different origins, it is an important part of my life,” she explained on the official Roland-Garros website.
She therefore shares origins with her future opponent in the final, the Polish Iga Swiatek. The two women also communicate in Polish when they meet on the Tour. “I speak Polish,” Paolini emphasized. When I was younger, I went to Poland every summer.”
She never beat Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek represents an impossible puzzle for Jasmine Paolini to solve.
IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire
The two women also share a tasty anecdote revealed by Jasmine Paolini in February 2023: “We played against each other in Prague in 2018 (editor’s note: both were above 150th place in the world) and I didn’t have the slightest idea who she was before the match.”
The final result? A victory for Iga Swiatek 6-2 6-1. “She was hitting winning shots from everywhere, it was impressive.” Since that date, there has been only one meeting between the two players. It was at the US Open 2022 and Swiatek won 6-2 6-0.
