Jasmine Paolini can look back on the 2024 campaign with a lot of pride after enjoying some solid performances across the year.
The Italian player was beaten in the quarter-final of the Wuhan Open earlier this month by Qinwen Zheng.
That performance won’t define her campaign though and the end-of-season finals will be on the horizon for Paolini for the very first time.
The 28-year-old has enjoyed positive career-best results in all four major tournaments this season and she will take a lot of confidence from that.
Paolini is perhaps unfortunate not to have a Grand Slam title to her name this year having reached the final at the French Open and Wimbledon.
A run to the fourth round at both the Australian Open and the US Open were also best-ever placements at those events.
Now, the latest world rankings have been released and Paolini might be forgiven for a slice of emotion at seeing her rise.
Jasmine Paolini has a new world ranking and it’s made history
Italian tennis is in a very good place right now with Paolini starring for the women in 2024 and Lorenzo Musetti enjoying some positive results for the men.
Whilst Musetti is busy trying to get into the higher echelons of the world rankings, Paolini is already there and her new ranking has made history.
The player now sits in fourth place in the latest world rankings and that is the highest that an Italian woman has ever sat in female tennis.
She has tied with Francesca Schiavone as the highest-ranked Italian woman in history and now she will hope to go one better than the player who did it before her.
Schiavone won the French Open in 2010 and with Paolini only 28, she will hope to win more than one Grand Slam title before her career comes to an end.
Paolini can really take tennis by storm in 2025
Being at number four in world tennis should open a lot of doors for Paolini during the next year on tour.
In theory, she should be able to settle more into tournaments with lower-ranked players to come earlier in the main competitions.
That should give Paolini every chance of getting over the line and lifting a Grand Slam and as a top-five player that should now be the dream.
It’s such a shame that she couldn’t claim a win at Wimbledon in 2024 and that one might hurt for a little while.
Paolini is on the right track though and for her supporters, it will be exciting to see what she can achieve next year.
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