How Jasmine Paolini went from serial grand slam underachiever to breakout tennis star of 2024

Before 2024, Jasmine Paolini was relatively unknown to average tennis fans.

After seven years on the WTA tour, the 28-year-old Italian had never made it past the second round at a grand slam. Then, she made back-to-back finals at Wimbledon and the French Open.

“The first thing that was different [in 2024] was that I was seeded, so that helped for sure,” Paolini says. “But you know, I think I grew up in my game, and I was more confident. I was believing more in myself.”

Returning to Australia for the United Cup, Paolini is back in the country where her wonder year began.

She had never won a match at the Australian Open, not even in qualifying, before 2024, but then found herself in the final 16 after victories over Diana Shnaider, Tatjana Maria and Anna Blinkova.

It was a run which provided the springboard for her incredible season.

Italian world No. 4 Jasmine Paolini.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

“Of course it was the best year on tour, and an unbelievable year. I have unbelievable memories,” Paolini says.

“My favourite [memory] maybe was the semi-final in Wimbledon [against Croatia’s Donna Vekic]. That was an unbelievable match. The way it ended 7-6 in the third [set], unbelievable emotion … but I have many of the last year. I am lucky.”

Paolini is a late bloomer compared to the likes of world No.3 Coco Gauff, who won her first slam at 19, and Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, who has risen to No.16 in the world aged just 17.

“I think I needed more time than most of the other players,” she says. “I don’t know why, but when I was younger, I wasn’t believing that much that I could play at this level. And I had some difficult moments when I was playing on hard courts, I wasn’t believing that I could play on hard courts.

Jasmine Paolini celebrates after winning her Wimbledon semi-final against Croatia’s Donna Vekic.Credit: AP

Then, I think it was a lot of work outside the court, trying to grow up a little bit, and I think at the end of this year it pays off.”

Paolini excelled in singles but also had her best year on tour in doubles.

Paolini advanced to the women’s doubles final with fellow Italian Sara Errani at the 2024 French Open before winning Olympic gold in Paris two months later.

“I think that it’s not a coincidence that last year I started to play better, and I started to play more doubles,” Paolini says.

Jasmine Paolini will start her 2025 season in Sydney with team Italy for the United Cup.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

“I think it helped so much to see the game. It’s more tactics, and also I talk a lot with Sara. She’s so smart on court, so I started to understand more the game, even in singles, and I improved some parts of my game.”

The challenge for 2025, is to maintain the momentum she has established in the past 12 months.

“I think that the best now to do is to see what worked well, what we can do better, and trying to work on it and try to improve … and trying to be competitive with the top, top players,” she says.

“I think we have to try to adjust something to try to be more competitive with, for example, [Iga] Swiatek and [Aryna] Sabalenka. I did it in the last few matches, I was more competitive, but [I’m] trying to be close to them.”

Most importantly for Paolini, who has a reputation as one of the most positive players on tour, she wants to have fun.

“I want to see myself enjoying playing tennis. It cannot be like this year, but it can be nice as well,” Paolini says.

“So I’m trying to keep this level as long as possible. It’s really fun to play at this level, it’s something great to play in the big stadium full of people and something every tennis player wants to do, and I had the chance this year to do it, and I hope to keep playing in these kind of matches.”

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