After the positive debut in doubles, the Italian aims to overcome the Round Robin in a group in which in addition to the number 1 she will face Gauff and Pegula. If she succeeds she will be the first Italian to do so
Still among the eight queens. In singles and doubles, she is the only one to do it. Jasmine Paolini begins her second WTA Finals in Riyadh tomorrow against world number 1 Sabalenka. And if the first ones had arrived in the wake of a real high-level explosion, these represent confirmation: more difficult, but also more significant. And the climbing attempt continues: no Italian has passed the qualifying round robin in singles. In addition to Sabalenka, in the group named after Stefi Graff, the 29-year-old Italian will find herself against two Americans: Coco Gauff, who won the Finals last year, and Jessica Pegula. With the Belarusian as the favourite, it will be the others who will have to worry about having ended up in the Italian’s group. Against Gauff, Paolini has won 3 of the last four matches, including the final in Rome. Only one match out of five against Pegula, but the most recent: the Billie Jean King Cup final. And what a victory. “I’m happy every time I set foot on the pitch. I feel good – says the Italian –. Sometimes things don’t go as you would like, but I have to remind myself that this was my dream. I’m playing at the highest level, and I’m satisfied with it. Last season was truly incredible. This year it wasn’t easy to repeat myself, but I think I succeeded, although perhaps with less consistency. I won Roma, which for an Italian is a dream. I’m happy with my season”.
number 1
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After her positive debut in doubles in Riyadh, paired with Sara Errani, Jasmine is ready to challenge Sabalenka. The world number one, who has held onto the throne all year, is the favourite. In 2025 he lost only 11 games out of the 70 played and has a monstrous percentage regarding tie breaks: 21 won out of 23 played. Science fiction numbers. These are her fifth Finals, a title that is missing from her trophy cabinet. The two Slam finals lost in 2025 (Australia and Paris) did not make her lose clarity and she made up for it at the US Open. Out of 15 tournaments played he reached at least the quarter-finals 13 times, winning Brisbane, Miami, Madrid as well as New York. In Riyadh, as Navratilova underlined, she finds “conditions fast enough to do damage, but not too fast to compromise the preparation of her shots”. Deadly combination. And the world number 1 also confirmed her feeling with the conditions of the Finals tournament. Tomorrow will be the eighth match between the two tennis players: the score says 5-2 in favor of Sabalenka. The Italian’s last victory dates back to Indian Wells in 2022, while the last match, played in Stuttgart last April, was won 7-5 6-4 by the Belarusian. Riad is located on a plateau 600 meters above sea level, the courts are difficult, the balls “fly”. Jas is also finding himself at ease, the training sessions of these days have been positive, the energy is the right one.
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The Tuscan qualified for the Finals in the last available spot, the eighth, with just 6 points ahead of Mirra Andreeva: a last-gasp race. Paolini didn’t shine in the Slams in 2025, but she was solid in the 1000 tournaments, enhanced by the splendid double in Rome (singles and doubles) which alone is enough to define a year. The Asian season finale gave her the decisive points for Riyadh, a sign that the energy level is high. The changes of coach, from his historic Renzo Furlan to Marc Lopez to Gaio, were complicated to absorb, but Jasmine’s blows were never lost in the adjustment. The permanent inclusion of Danilo Pizzorno, with whom he already worked, was invaluable in video analysis. The mental strength to face the final sprint was decisive. With 8 wins out of 11 matches, Paolini has punched his ticket to Arabia: quarter-finals in Beijing, semi-final in Wuhan, semi-final in Ningbo, first career victory against Swiatek. An example of consistency: Jasmine won more games than last season with a higher success rate (71.9%, a career best). All this while facing another tiring doubles calendar, which however earned her four titles, together with Errani and constitutes a propellant. So, come on Jasmine: you are free to amaze again.
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