Jasmine Paolini has established herself as one of the best players in women’s tennis over the last two years.
The Italian star was ranked 30th on the WTA Tour at the end of the 2023 season, but soon shot up the rankings.
At the 2024 French Open, Paolini qualified for her first Grand Slam final, where she lost in straight sets to Iga Swiatek.
She remarkably returned to the Championship match just a few months later at Wimbledon, narrowly coming up short against Barbora Krejcikova.
The 29-year-old hasn’t had quite so much major success in 2025, but she has enjoyed several standout results at the WTA 1000 level, as Paolini won the Italian Open and reached the final of the Cincinnati Open.
Following her latest win, at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals with Italy, one top tennis coach explained what makes Paolini so effective.
Simon Rea says Jasmine Paolini’s game is different from the rest of the WTA top ten
Appearing as a guest on ‘The Tennis’ podcast, tennis coach Simon Rea gave his verdict on Paolini’s 2025 campaign.
“Her game is in great shape,” he said.
“Has she had the absolute breakthrough this year at the Slam level that perhaps we saw from her last year? No.
“But she still finds herself secure in the top ten in the world, and I love the way she goes about it.”
Rea outlined how Paolini causes problems for her opponents on the WTA Tour.
“She is a player who’s smaller in stature. She doesn’t have the overpowering first serve, but what she does have is great variety, she keeps her opponent off balance, she knows she is not going to blast the ball by you, but she flips the script on its head,” he said.
“When it is your turn to serve at her, she keeps you off balance. Typically, players have a return profile; we know what to expect. Against her, you don’t!
“She can do it all, she can be on top of the baseline on first serve return, she can be three metres behind the baseline, which gives her the ability to flex.
“If she’s up against a [Aryna] Sabalenka, she can go back, buy herself some time. She prides herself on making returns into play; she’s not going to allow the opponent cheap returns.
“Her mentality is that if you’re going to beat me, you’re going to earn it. I’ve got some tools in my kit bag, I can mix it up, I can keep you off balance, I can give you a different look.”
The New Zealander shared a remarkable statistic that proves just how effective Paolini can be when returning.
“She wins 50% of her first serve return points; the average of the top 100, even the top ten, is 40%, so when you think about putting a 10% gap on the field, that’s really significant,” said Rea.
“Her forehand, she does it differently, more spin, more net clearance, she gets the ball jumping off the court, she challenges your impact point down the other end. I love the way she goes about it; she’s really clear on her weapons, what works for her, and how she is going to impose those weapons on her opposition on any given day, and it’s different from what we see from the rest of the top ten.”
Paolini will certainly hope to put those weapons to good use when she returns to action at the China Open.
Who will Jasmine Paolini play in her Beijing opener?
The Italian star will begin her China Open campaign against Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
Paolini and Sevastova have met three times previously, with the former emerging victorious on all three occasions.
- 2025 Wimbledon 1R – Jasmine Paolini defeated Anastasija Sevastova, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
- 2021 Cincinnati Open Q1 – Jasmine Paolini defeated Anastasija Sevastova, 6-1, 2-1 (RET)
- 2020 Italian Open 1R – Jasmine Paolini defeated Anastasija Sevastova, 6-2, 6-3
Only time will tell if Paolini can secure her fourth straight win over Sevastova when they meet in Beijing, but you certainly won’t want to miss any of the action.
Paolini and Sevastova will battle it out for a place in the third round of the 2025 China Open on Friday, September 26.
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