Jasmine Paolini has often said that she doesn’t want to be compared to the legendary Italian women who came before her. Following in the footsteps of a generation of breakout stars that created two Grand Slam singles champions一2010 Roland-Garros champion Francesca Schiavone and 2015 US Open champion Flavia Pennetta一and forged their way to four Billie Jean King Cup titles surely can’t be an easy task.
The 28-year-old world No.5 reiterated the sentiment on Saturday in New York, moments after defeating Yulia Putintseva to reach the Round of 16 for the first time at the US Open, where she will face Karolina Muchova.
“I'm trying to, as I said, to focus on my story,” she said.
No offense to Pennetta, Schiavone, and other Italian women that came before her, but Paolini’s rags-to-riches tale is a page-turner that could be worthy of a Pulitzer prize.
Paolini has been a solid entity on tour since 2020, when she first managed to finish a season inside the Top 100. But the riveting chapters the Tuscany native has authored in 2024 have been unthinkably solid. So good that it makes the reader want to flip back to the first chapter of her story to see what they might have missed. So good that Paolini herself has trouble processing the improbable story arc that she has crafted.
Is Paolini’s rise fiction or reality?
The Italian doesn’t seem to be quite sure.
“It's something that's crazy. If they told me at the beginning of the year before the Australian Open, [I wouldn’t believe it],” she told reporters on Saturday, comfortable at the podium in the US Open’s main interview room after yet another impressive victory in Flushing Meadows. “This year has been amazing. I played a lot of first-time things. First time I won two matches in a Slam. Now I made the second week in every Slam.”
The author’s words, while true, don’t do the storyline justice. Contemplate this hair-raising plot twist:
Paolini was 4-16 at the Grand Slams prior to 2024. This year? She has gone 18-3, and reached back-to-back major finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
No Italian woman has ever won more matches at the majors in a single season.
At Wimbledon, where Paolini had never won a single match before, the Italian powered into the final and became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2015 to reach Slam finals in Paris and London in the same season.
Serena Williams and Jasmine Paolini? Pretty decent company…
Paolini’s rise has been so sudden that her peers can’t help but take notice. Jessica Pegula, a fellow late-bloomer who knows the Italian’s game well, says that she hasn’t been (completely) shocked by her success.
“I honestly am not that surprised,” she said. “Obviously two Slam finals, though, is crazy and having the most Slam wins this year [of all WTA players] is a crazy stat.”
Pegula also needed time to find her footing on the WTA Tour, toiling outside of the Top 100 for many years as she battled injuries, before she became the formidable talent that she is today.
Paolini, a 5-foot-4 dynamo who belts the ball with a gusto that belies her diminutive frame, has seemingly transformed herself overnight, but Pegula says there were signs that the Italian had the makings of a world-beater.
“I think every time I played her, I always felt like she was better than her ranking,” Pegula said. “I feel like something obviously clicked with her with winning these matches and becoming more consistent mentally. It seems like maybe she's playing a little bit more aggressive too.
“Sometimes when that clicks, you just get this feeling going in those matches where you know how to play the big points, and you have a lot of momentum. It seems like she's been able to find that.”
Pegula, who could end up facing Paolini in the semifinals if both players continue winning in New York, says she is drawn to the Italian’s story and sees a little bit of herself in it.
“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, and all this kind of negative stuff,” she said. “We've seen that kind of change a lot the last few years. I'm kind of one of those people. So I like to see those stories turn out. Everyone has a different kind of challenge and a journey ahead of them.”
As for Paolini, she just wants to keep writing new chapters. Rather than rest on her laurels, she prefers to keep striving.
“We try to improve something every day,” she says. “Because if you stay at the same level, you will go back.”
