Italian pocket-rocket Jasmine Paolini is remaining ambitious for the rest of 2024 after enjoying the best season of her career.
The 28-year-old Italian has been committed to proving her successes are no blip as she sets her sights on a dream ending to 2024.
Having made back-to-back Grand Slam final appearances this summer at the French Open and Wimbledon, a bubbly Jasmine Paolini has surged up the WTA rankings.
Despite disappointing defeats to Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova in those finals, Paolini has graced the WTA tour with a contagious energy, consistently charming her way through the rounds.
While no newbie, Paolini’s rapid rise guided her to a maiden WTA-1000 title this year, along with reaching a career-high ranking of fifth, leapfrogging Coco Gauff in the process.
Jasmine Paolini eyes up ‘big goal’ for the end of the WTA season
Paolini is clearly in no mood for looking back despite the unrelenting nature of the tour’s speedy move to Asia after the US Open.
The third seed in Beijing behind New York finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula, the Italian started strongly with a comeback win over big-hitting Dane Clara Tauson.
Beaming on and off-court, Paolini revealed to WTA Insider her biggest goal for the year is still yet to be achieved.
“We are trying to keep focused, to be in the present,” she said. “It’s tough because it’s the end of the season. I’ve played many matches, but it’s good that I’ve played many matches actually. We are trying to keep practicing well, to keep being motivated.
“There is a big goal I had: We have to qualify for the WTA Finals. So we have to push on the accelerator,” Paolini said, boisterously confirming her reluctance to look in the rearview mirror.
“I played a really good season so it would be great to be part of the WTA Finals for the first time. It’s a real exclusive club. If I am able to play there it’s going to be really exciting and fun.”
Currently fourth in the race, Paolini’s bid for qualification will have been helped by Emma Navarro’s shock defeat to Shuai Zhang – a player who only just broke her 24-match losing streak.
Danielle Collins, who is eight in the race to Riyadh, is also out until the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and ultimately looks likely to narrowly miss out.
Jasmine Paolini must continue this momentum through the China Open
Set to take on 31st seed Magda Linette for a spot in the last 16, Paolini’s mini-wobble against Tauson does not yet represent much cause for concern.
While her Grand Slam success has come on clay and grass this year, her WTA-1000 win in Dubai on the hard courts has proved she’s perfectly prepared for the end of the season in Asia.
The finals are taking place in Saudi Arabia for the first time, with last year’s champion Swiatek the first to qualify.
A solid run at the China Open may well be Paolini’s ticket to Riyadh and enable the completion of her goal.
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