Jasmine Paolini survived a scare in her first round match at the French Open against Yue Yuan.
Paolini reached the French Open final last year, in a breakout season that also saw her finish as runner-up at Wimbledon.
The Italian is now a mainstay inside the world’s top 10 and is coming into the French Open this year in strong form, highlighted by Paolini winning the Italian Open for the first time.
As a result of this triumph, Paolini is seen as a French Open contender, but she was almost knocked out in the first round.
Jasmine Paolini reveals when she was worried during her first round match at the French Open
Paolini got off to an impressive start in her opening match in Paris against world number 87 Yue Yuan, winning the first set 6-1 in just 24 minutes.
However, the contest turned on its head and Yuan levelled the match at one set apiece.
It was at this point that Paolini admitted that she started to feel worried, as she went 0-40 down on her own serve in the opening game in the deciding set.
“Well I started off well, but in 0-40 the first game [of the third set] I said ‘Oh my god, now I’m starting to get seriously worried’,” Paolini said in the Italian portion of her post-match press conference.
“But more than anything I was worried about how I felt. I was very nervous and I couldn’t move well anymore, I couldn’t be clear-headed and when that happens it becomes difficult. So I was a little bit, yes I was quite worried honestly and luckily I managed to regain some clarity and turn it around.”
Paolini found herself a break down in the third set, winning 16 of the last 17 points of the match to win 6-1 4-6 6-3.
Jasmine Paolini explains how the conditions differ at the French Open compared to Rome
Paolini clearly enjoyed the conditions at the Italian Open after winning the titles in both singles and doubles at her home WTA 1000 tournament.
When comparing the conditions at the Rome tournament to the French Open, Paolini explained that the courts in Paris appear to be quicker.
“Here maybe the ball goes more, especially the first training session I did, I said here the ball seems to go much more and in Rome in my opinion the conditions are slower, there was more clay on the court and so you have to adapt,” said Paolini.
“But we are used to every week in the end we play in different conditions, so we will have to adapt here too. As I said let’s hope for the next match to have more sensations and more focus throughout the match.”
Paolini will hope to be more adapted to the courts and conditions for her second round match at the French Open, which will take place on Wednesday, May 28.
The 29-year-old already knows that she will play an Australian, as she awaits the winner of the match between the in-form teenager Maya Joint and Ajla Tomljanovic.
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